《The Tachanigh-Kelkaith》


 Chapter 1: Home

    Denziu landed with a gentle thump outside of zir stone house in the mountains of Nidrio. Zir home in these verdant peaks overlooked the lowlands of Denxalue, a short flight away. Though outsiders saw the lands below as nothing but a swamp-pit of mud dragons, Denziu was determined to prove otherwise.


    The good vrash and vashael of Denxalue, who eked out a living catching fish, gathering plants, and digging up bog iron, were more than just ¡°mudgons¡±. In this flying wagon Denziu would pack away the proof: Great big pots with exquisite designs, tall pots with glasslike surfaces and beautiful paints on their twice-fired surfaces.


    For years now zie had collected and stored the pots in zir backroom, the dust kept off of them by protective cloth. The dust in the room was gently stirred and swept out by the moving gusts of wind that followed Denziu¡¯s every step whenever zie entered with a new pot for the collection. Now, at last, Denziu had acquired eight of the finest ceramics in Denxalue, scrounged from the swamp village markets.


    Each pot made the craft of the local pottergons shine and defied the reputation of Denxalue¡¯s villages as places where foolish dragons wasted their potential by wallowing in the mud. Sure, Denziu zirself wasn¡¯t averse to a bit of a mud wallow, but zie could tell that these pots were denied their fair value. Merchantgons who passed through Denxalue were too derisive to pay high prices for even the best of what the pottergons produced.


    None accepted Denxalue¡¯s pots as art.


    That would change.


    Zie had felt foolish many times, slowly gathering overlarge, painted ceramics zie did not use and did not want to be stuck with. They were storage pots, which compounded the sense of taking on an error. Yet they should never have been priced as though they were only for grain storage! Every one of them was beautifully brushed with a scene from Denxalue or a nearby theome, unique and worthy of display.


    One of the pots had a depiction of Lauvera, the Land God of Denxalue, wrapped around it. She was grotesque, a bloated and ugly dragon who very much wallowed in the mud, but that was how she incarnated. Another one had a portrayal of weeping willows in a swamp. Yet another, two lines of dragons racing around the pot forever. Here was one of a vashael dragon poling a boat through a swamp. There was one of a vrash dragon implausibly surrounded by contented animals. The bright scene on the next pot was not of Denxalue, but of Zyrine to the south, where the strange god-sigil Raul burned bright in the sky above the great city¡¯s skyline. Denziu¡¯s favourite pot had a panorama circling the pot of the sleepy village of Badyen from the western side of Denxalue. The last of the pots was nothing but a floral pattern, but it was a very large pattern over a very large pot.


    A little pewter placard fitted into each pot¡¯s wooden stopper, and into each of the little placards Denziu zirself had struck the name of the artist as well as the month and year in which it was made. A sense of accomplishment set in as zie wrapped the newest painted vessel.


    These pots were part of Denxalue''s history, and soon everyone would know their value.


    The pottergons--the artists--didn''t know how good their products were. They¡¯d brushed storage pots as though they were just brushing pots to practice on them. So Denziu got the finest pots of Denxalue for a low price, and curated a collection intended for a destination that would make it all worthwhile: Hydalath!


    Far to the frozen north, Hydalath''s teeming ten-thousands of dragons would surely include dragons who would love to buy decorative pottery at high prices from a distant theome. Denziu felt sure that Hydalath, a continent away and on the other side of three mountain ranges, would have no idea that Denxalue was considered a pit. Zie also had the vague impression that prices for fine art usually increased with distance. Or was that uniqueness? Zie would for certain be the only merchantgon with art-pottery from Denxalue.


    Denziu would make sure that they were loved in Hydalath. More importantly, zie would then bring back the tale to the artists who produced them. While other merchantgons were deriding the pottergons of Denxalue into unfair low prices, Denziu would break the spell by revealing that the finest of these pots were truly objects of fine art!


    Denziu left zir pottery storage room giddy with excitement. Soon--finally!--zie would join the next caravan to the north.


    Later that afternoon, Denziu flew to zir sibling Taltios¡¯ patio. Taltios had lived for some time in Tekagol, a floodplain under the auspices of the land god Baggil, and zie would know if Denziu¡¯s plan to purchase a luck charm for the journey was a good idea.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The two dragons were out on a simple wooden patio. Taltios¡¯ patio was blessedly covered, as the rain was out as usual. Tekagol never suffered a drought; Baggil preferred to frequently flood it than to ever dry out. It wasn¡¯t entirely accidental how the lands were arranged near each other, and the land gods who preferred to flood lived in places where the rain came to them. As a result, the farmergons of Tekagol often grew rice as well, for they loved thirsty crops that wouldn¡¯t be destroyed by too much water.


    The scene was serene. Taltios¡¯ stilted house didn''t care if water accumulated underneath it, and zir livestock were swamp lizards who loved flooding. The rain was beautiful to listen to. To look at, too. The rain rolling off the leaves of trees, the trees themselves as they bent in the gusting wind, the occasional flash of lightning and distant roll of thunder¡­


    The two dragons¡¯ tails sprawled over the planks as they sat to each side of a table. Denziu, beige-scaled with a tawny pattern painted on. Taltios, a patternless red-scaled vashael of burly muscles. They shared the ¡®zie¡¯ pronoun, for the land goddess Praoziu (who was their mother) had chosen to make them both hermaphrodites. Privately, Denziu thought Taltios¡¯ rugged looks were bent masculine.


    The vrash-like armour that Taltios wore didn¡¯t help. Burly Taltios, bigger than Denziu, bigger than most vashael, and all-over covered in that frightful vrash armour with Baggil-knows-what enchantments on it...Denziu thought that armour looked dreadfully uncomfortable, but to the vrash farmergons of Tekagol wearing their armours showed their strength and wealth. They nearly all wore armour and they nearly always had. The vashael of Denxalue weren¡¯t known to wear such armour. It emphasised Taltios¡¯ strength, and zie loved that armour. Denziu found it intimidating.


    Intimidating as zie was, this great red farmergon was Denziu''s favourite dragon in Tekagol, and zir opinion mattered.


    Two bowls of early Shaleara cider sat between them as well as a clay jug with more if they wanted it. ¡®Early¡¯ Shaleara cider was barely alcoholic, so it was drank for flavour and hydration. Swamp-loving Shaleara fruit grew native in this region and formed one of Tekagol¡¯s better cash crops.


    Denziu toasted zir sibling with the cider bowl. ¡°This¡¯ll be the farthest I¡¯ve been away from home. I plan to join a Tekagoli caravan and pick up a luck charm with Baggil¡¯s blessing as well. That¡¯s supposed to mean a safe return.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Taltios agreed. "But Baggil¡¯s blessing comes at a price. I think you''re going to lose some pots.¡±


    Denziu sighed. The cost of a safe return would be some of those precious pieces of art?


    So did the guarantee for safety on the upcoming journey.


    "It''ll be the farthest I''ve ever been from home," Denziu finally continued, after zie''d lingered a while over zir cider. "I think losing a few pots is worthwhile."


    "I agree," said Taltios. "I''m just warning you. Having lived in Tekagol a few years, I can tell you you''ll come back richer than you set out, but only just."


    Which was tolerable, Denziu thought. If zie turned only a small profit, zie would also come back richer by experience. "I want to see for myself some of the things along the way. Like the vertical homes of Atney, with two dozen dragons living in each one and sky bridges between them. Or the great canal of Xanasal, where the land god opens and closes a sea connection daily between the ocean and Lake Smaril.¡± Denziu said, remembering a few of the things zie had read about in the Querent-Querent library at Zyrine.


    "With that attitude, you might lose all the pots," said Taltios, a frown on that great red-scaled face. The larger dragon snorted, and shook zir head. "Or nearly all of them. You''ve somewhere safe to come back to, Denziu. Baggil might treat all the money you put into this as ''a small loss''."


    Denziu stared in shock. All of the pots? "Is it that bad an idea to buy a Tekagoli luck charm before setting out?" zie asked.


    "No, not necessarily. I''m just warning you to keep your expectations low if you do. Baggil wants dragons to persist at things, wherever they go in Theoma. If you buy that charm, we''ll not fear for your safety, but a love of travelling will cost you. You might have to do this three times to show a profit worth the journey. Because of persistence, you see."


    Somewhat rankled by Taltios¡¯ persistent warnings, Denziu lifted zir bowl to drain the cider. When zie''d finished it, zie spoke. "I''ve got Denxalue''s history in this collection. Lauvera will rage at Baggil on my behalf if Tekagol''s land god destroys Denxalue''s finest pots of five decades."


    "Then you''ll have worse luck some other way. Baggil is sadistic at first, Denziu. That''s how everyone feels when they first try to commit to Tekagoli luck. You''ll be saddled with something you hate. It''ll take time to find the silver lining," Taltios said, zir words pressing on Denziu.


    "But it will work,¡± Denziu pressed back.


    Taltios sighed. ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Then I''m doing it anyway.¡± Zie didn''t feel the bravado, but zir safety in this voyage mattered more than zir profit margins.


    "If you¡¯re that set on it, I''ve got something you''ll need. Walking all day is going to be harder than flying, so stay here." With these gruff words, Taltios pushed up from the table and walked into zir house. Shortly after, zie came back bearing a traveller''s armband, and insisted again that Denziu take it.


    Denziu left with a leather band around zir right bicep, and could already feel how much lighter it made zir footsteps.

 Chapter 2: Tekagoli Luck

    Denziu was still thinking about Taltios'' warning the next morning at a market in Tekagol.  All around zir in the grey dreary rain there were vrash (they were nearly all vrash) of variously coloured scales under armour of slight variations who were surrounded by bins of produce.  There were a few vashael who were likely out-of-towners seeing as none of them were behind the produce bins.  This bit of Tekagol wasn¡¯t quite close enough to Zyrine for dragons there to pick up produce on a whim, but it also wasn¡¯t far enough to prevent planned grocery runs.  Zyrine was a big, hungry city, and dragons flying in from Zyrine were probably a major market for Tekagol¡¯s produce.


    Tekagoli luck charms were at least easy to find.  A central kiosk right in the middle of the market sold them, with every other stall set around it at a fair distance like the luck charms were the most notorious thing they had.


    The constant unappealing drizzle made Denziu grateful that the paths in the market were covered, and the surfaces underfoot were crowned vrashwork which resisted flooding.  Between the produce stalls and the central kiosk, the paths and roofing were good against the rain.  That kiosk had its own broad overhanging roof that kept the rain off of Denziu as zie circled the kiosk to study its stock.


    Five bins full of pewter charms lined the kiosk, set around most of a circle.  There was an open back to the kiosk where the sixth bin would''ve been if they''d been spaced all the way around.  Each bin was invitingly open and the kiosk had a counter between each pair of them so that the blue-scaled vrash staffing the kiosk could sell on all sides.


    Denziu thought about the charms as zie studied the contents of each bin.  There were as many theomes which broadcasted "Tekagoli Luck" across the weave of Fate as there were continents.  The nature of "Tekagoli Luck" was infamous all over Theoma.  The land gods thought of it as a kind of good luck, but most dragons considered it a form of sabotage.  Dragons who hated each other sometimes gifted their foes with Tekagoli luck charms.  "Live long and suffer," that''s what a Tekagoli Luck charm meant, because Tekagoli Luck meant a lot of little things going wrong.


    Yet Denziu knew something important about Tekagoli Luck: Praoziu claimed that all of the theomes broadcasting this weird bad luck had 0% death rates.  Immortality was a true promise under Tekagoli Luck.  It really was about little things going wrong so big things never would.


    Denziu gravitated to the pair of bins astride the counter where the vendorgon stood already.  Little cast animals on straps filled one bin while little squiggly nonsense symbols on straps filled the other bin.  The charms were priced individually, though Denziu was intrigued to see a whole-bin price labelled on a dangling placard, too.  The prices were low for good pewter work, let alone enchanted pewter work.  They were cheap!  Were these despite their reputation the kind of souvenirs dragons took home from Tekagol?  Or were they being sold out of faith?


    Denziu reflected on that thought.  It seemed probable.  Tekagol was the polity where dragons least cursed Tekagoli luck and most believed in its promise.  So the charms were sold at a fire sale price here, as though unloading unwanted pewter, precisely because these charms were wanted, and the dragons here wanted them to be so cheap that they could be exported.


    Denziu lingered over the charms for a while, until the vrash in the kiosk rapped the counter and said, "For the love of safety, just buy one already!"  He laughed and carried on as Denziu looked up: "Baggil loves you, so buy one and trust your Fate."


    "Are these really safe to buy?" Denziu asked, again thinking about Taltios'' warning that they would bring sadistic luck at first.  Zie was intending to buy a charm.  Definitely.  They were just a bit intimidating.


    The vendorgon splayed his hands and smiled.  "Of course!  These are bona fide magic items, and they''re a great way to live longer."  He reached down over the counter into the open bins in front of him and snatched up one of the charms to hold it up by a pebbled string.  It was a pewter triskelion.  Denziu was pretty sure zie wanted one with a plainer strap, but zie looked closely anyways.  "Baggil protects immortality," said the vendorgon.  "Every misfortune that happens while you''re wearing one of these is protecting you from something worse down the line.  Believe it!"


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "And the bins?  Are they really all bearing the same enchantment?" Denziu asked.  Zie was tempted to buy a whole bin and try to sell them along the route.  Based on what zie knew of how Tekagol was known for exporting Tekagoli luck charms, the low prices appealed to visiting merchantgons who probably purchased an entire case of them and slowly sold them off in other theomes.


    The dark blue vrash vendorgon nodded.  "On Baggil''s honour, these are all beacons of the Tekagoli Fate.  You a caravanner?  Buy a bin," he said.


    "I don''t have enough on me to buy a bin," Denziu said, thinking that zie wasn¡¯t a caravanner just yet.  Yet there was a certain lure to carrying the Tekagoli charms and trying to sell them in distant theomes, so zie said, "But I think I might come back in a few days and do just that."  For the moment, zie reached down and grabbed a charm shaped like a predatory bird.  "For now I''ll just buy this one."


    "Better hurry," said the vendorgon with a broad smile as they were trading Denziu¡¯s coin for that new bird charm.  "You''re not the only buyer.  I sell out of closed bins every time a caravan musters."  Judging by that smile, Denziu was a little sceptical.  The vendorgon was just a little too pleased to hear Denziu talk of buying a bin, but zie smiled back anyways.  If zie could overcome the scepticism of buyers, it would be good business to buy one of the bins.  Failing all else, zie could get good prices selling the charms to bitter dragons who would ''curse'' each other with Baggil''s protection.


    Fitting zir new charm around zir neck, Denziu walked out from under the covered paths of the market to look at the bulletin board posted outside a local village square cafe, where bulletins were posted about festivals, job requests, and (most importantly) upcoming caravan departures.  As the origin point for the more safety-seeking branch of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith trade corridor, caravans were fairly regular.


    Fetching zir notebook from zir pouch, Denziu brandished an excellent gift from Praoziu: a lev-i-quill.  It was an enchanted and everlasting quill pen that animated itself to write at Denziu¡¯s mental directions.  Zie held open the notebook and released the lev-i-quill to transcribe the time and place of the next regular caravan mustering from the board.  There was a pre-meet brunch with a price tag on it, and Denziu took note of that as well.  Showing up at the mustering without attending the brunch would be poor form.


    As zie flew home to Nidrio with zir business in Tekagol completed, Denziu wondered who zie would meet with the caravan.


    The next few days were very busy.  Pottery was not going to be Denziu''s only ware, because zie was also something of a pigment merchantgon.  That was another fine luxury item.  Zie had drying soil heaps to grind and sieve to produce more of the earth-tone pigments that zie used to paint zirself with, and zie needed all zie could make for every ounce of it was gold on this journey.  The paints were saleable for a very solid profit, because the raw materials for it were free, but few dragons ever made it.  It was a good, hard work that produced phial after phial of paints which were quite light and would be valuable if zie found customers willing to buy them.


    Zir little stone house in Nidrio was a busy pigment-making workshop when Aleicree stopped by to wish zir farewell.  Blue-scaled Aleicree, friendly though withdrawn and another sibling of Denziu¡¯s, gave to Denziu a gift for zir prosperity: a cask of late Shaleara cider, a trade good in its own right that could be sold along the way.  That it was destined for sale and not for Denziu''s consumption went unstated, but Denziu believed in that heartily, for Aleicree knew the lore of Tekagol as well as Denziu did.  To drink a late cider or any similarly ''hard'' drink while wearing a Tekagoli charm was to invite disaster.


    Denziu flew back to Tekagol and bought that bin of Tekagoli luck charms as well.  The price was right and the idea of a faith-based trade good was fascinating to think about.  Carrying the bin of charms through the air on zir flying wagon felt strangely deviant, like zie were towing a veil of questionable luck across the land.


    In these ways, Denziu accumulated other trade goods to add to zir packed stock.  Zir wagon would be laden high when zie went to the caravan, and zie strutted before Praoziu to show off that zie was pulling a new cargo.


    Praoziu laughed and clapped to Denziu¡¯s strut. When she calmed from that, she swept in close to hug Denziu.  ¡°My little merchantgon,¡± she said with a tender nuzzle.  ¡°I have one more gift for you.¡±


    She was a land god, the highest power in Nidrio, embodiment of the land itself.  There was no sound or gesture accompanying, no rite or ritual, yet from one moment to the next Praoziu added one final gift to a merchantgon in bloom: a slight enlargement to Denziu''s flying wagon.

 Chapter 3: Tekagol Cafe

    When the day came to attend the brunch for the new-forming caravan, Denziu almost left behind zir new Tekagoli luck charm for fear that the entire event would be a misfortune if zie took it.  Yet zie reasoned, with so many dragons gathering, wouldn''t it be inevitable that someone else would bring such a charm of their own?  Perhaps it was better to share in the bad luck than to plead for exemption. Still, the uncertainty and ambivalence returned to the tan dragon''s thoughts, spurred by the unfamiliar touch of the pewter charm against zir chest.


    Doubt and unease swirled in Denziu''s thoughts. Was it really wise to join a Tekagoli caravan?  What kind of merchantgon prays for moderately bad luck?  Wearing the charm was surely a prayerful act; it was a fate-charm and wearing it was a kind of submission to Fate.  Such a prayer was alien to Denziu and yet its alienness was not enough to dissuade Denziu, who thought zie understood the prayer of Tekagol perfectly well:  "Twist my Fate yet ruin me not, for I wish to live forever."


    As zie flew unladen across Nidrio and Denxalue into Tekagol, Denziu ruminated about the decision to become a Tekagoli merchantgon.


    It was an unusual category and this brunch would be the first time that Denziu would count as one.  The promise of a better long-term was one that zie didn¡¯t understand.  How could bad luck feed into good luck?  Would zie ever truly understand, or would it remain a decision on faith forever?  Was it too religious a thing?  Denziu didn¡¯t think of zirself as religious.


    Even the path that Denziu flew reflected zir doubts about the Tekagoli charm that rested against zir chest, for the path was marginally straighter across Relny.  Zie was avoiding Relny.  Denziu thought zie had the favour of Lauvera, land god of Denxalue, and wanted to avoid Relny, whose land god Ornel was famously "not participating" in Theoma.  Ornel¡¯s non-participation left Relny a high crime area and Denziu didn¡¯t want to tempt Fate by travelling there.


    At least the flight was relaxing.  Flight was easy for the vashael, whose wind aura gives them the power of perfect winds to their wings.  That power was called the amicus breeze and thanks to it, getting tired while flying took hours.


    It was a fine, dry day in Tekagol with the sun shining brightly, so of course Denziu was planning to spend it attending an indoors event; doubtless had the event been outdoors, Denziu would''ve found the weather just rainy enough to be unpleasant and just dry enough to prevent a cancellation.  The inappropriate weather struck Denziu as a manifestation of Tekagoli Luck.  Zie wondered if zir sibling Taltios dealt with such uncooperative weather on the regular.


    Landing in an open section of the marketplace, zie made zir way to the village square cafe where the bulletins had been posted.  Denziu met one of the cafe¡¯s staff at the door and paid the (rather steep) door fee to get in.  There wasn''t usually a door fee, but today the price tag was being taken by the caravanners who had rented the cafe for the meeting.


    The crowd was a little reduced from the typical bustle of the cafe; the door fee and the planned event were keeping out the regular customers.  A buffet was lading out two tables along the wall of the cafe in place of the usual menu, which also helped explain the door fee.  The offerings looked more than slightly ''heavy'' to Denziu as it looked like the buffet was laden with dessert-like breakfast items.


    Denziu didn''t usually eat here, and so tried to decide what to eat by guessing what others were.  By that standard the local biscuits and gravy must be an excellence, for it was nearly gone.  Zie took the last of it in curiosity.  Trying a forkful before even sitting down proved it a good gravy, but zie wondered if seeing it eaten more than everything else had become self-fulfilling.  It was visibly the must-try item.


    It was perhaps a faux pas to grab something to eat ahead of talking to dragons, but days of hard work had been days of light eating.  Besides, Denziu''s purse was still stinging from the entry fee.  Zie suspected the event was run for the profit of the caravan master.


    Still, zie couldn''t help but to meet dragons: for one thing, the first empty place at the table that zie found was next to a green vashael wearing a coat of charms.  Not only were adornments hanging from her horns, but she was wearing a brown robe scaled in little symbols dangling from short strands of twine.  They were heaviest about her shoulders.


    "Ho there," said Denziu while approaching this dragon.  "What interesting attire you have!"  Denziu wore nothing more than beige scales and red-orange paint in sweeping curves, but zie was not blind to the sartorial choices of others.


    "All of these beacon Fate," said the charm-covered vashael.  "The land gods will do much for us if we will trust in Fate."


    "Are you a geomancer, then?" asked Denziu.


    "No, but I have been on seven of these journeys, and Baggil guards my profits well now.  I haven''t seen you before among us, I don''t suppose you''ve been hiding?" she said.  She seemed at once intrigued, and Denziu felt grateful.


    The question itself was of course facetious.  If Denziu had been intending to hide zir novice''s lack of travelling experience, that was not to be possible now.  "Not at all," zie said.  "I''ve never been farther from home than Daubysid.  Not even to Taithorkey!"  The arboreal cities of Taithorkey were the nearest new marvel that Denziu was looking forward to seeing with zir own eyes.


    "What''s your name?" she asked, and when they''d traded names, it happened that her own name was Lorvaza the Predictable, a reference to what dragons thought she must be to the land gods, swathed in fate-charms as she was.  Denziu thought that was fascinating, and so was treated to descriptions of a few of the fate-charms that Lorvasa believed still enchanted and influenced her future.  There was a four-swirl symbol with radial symmetry that Lorvaza claimed was from Ediveyrm, a circlet-charm with a stone upon her forehead that she called a prayer for learning from Tonturaseer, a pair of little bells from Nybisalla that she said were a pledge of humility, and so forth without losing Denziu''s attention for a moment, until at last Lorvasa pled hunger (for only Denziu had been able to eat while Lorvasa was telling so many stories).  She did one last favour for Denziu before going back to the buffet tables: she pointed to a vrash with ornamental chainmail on his shoulders, who was the caravan leader himself.


    For this Denziu was quite grateful, as there were a dozen dragons in the room, and zie had been rather shy of the idea of going around asking who was who.  "Go talk to Choave," she encouraged Denziu.  "We share the good and the bad here, don''t be shy to speak to the best of us."


    Choave was a green-scaled vrash with a very heavy build, both physically strong and overweight.  He had blue and pink metal implants in his horns, and silver piercings on the fins of his head, which were an unusual trait for a vrash.  His armour was comprised of golden scales about his shoulders and great steel vambraces.  This was less armour than many vrash wore daily, but Choave was also wearing ingots of blue metal around his neck.  They looked heavy.  Denziu thought he must take pride in his strength.


    This heavy dragon had a messy plate of horrible breakfast sweets and sticky talons from eating them, and a table about him that seemed inclined to roar with laughter.  Yet all of that chilled when Denziu approached, and suddenly the merchantgons at Choave''s table were all business, so that Denziu was glad of having finished a portion of biscuits and gravy while Lorvasa was talking for zie certainly could not eat with a table of merchantgons paying attention.  Zie was only 74 in a world of immortals and felt uncomfortable of zir relative youth before them.


    When they had quizzed Denziu enough to extract the plan of selling pottery in Hydalath, a cask of Shaleara cider at Mosdenechrak, plus pigments and charms ''wherever'', a (lack of) detail that mortified Denziu to admit to, Choave said, "We''re running a collection."


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "A collection?  A collection of what?" Denziu asked.


    "Not of what, for what.  And for, in this case, filling our wagons with a valuable good.  Tekagol¡¯s priciest export is late Shaleara cider, sold by the cask and greatly valued at Xeladash.  Our first collection is for filling our wagons with casks of cider.  And don¡¯t sell yours until we get to Xeladash!  Mosdenechrak¡¯s price isn¡¯t that good."


    Shaleara cider.  Denziu was familiar with it.  The ¡®late¡¯ ciders were intensely alcoholic and carried a high pricetag.  Denziu didn¡¯t touch them; strong liquors were a waste of money.  Nor did most of the people in Tekagol.  Local lore claimed that getting drunk inflicted an injury to Fate, disarraying the land gods¡¯ protections as it disarrayed the mind, and the locals valued their Fates too piously for that.


    Carrying such a cargo would be profiting off of the ill wisdom of other dragons, but such exports were why the cider was made in a theome where it wasn¡¯t drank.  Local merchantgons often took it to Taithorkey for furs and lumber, or else they took it to Griolor, whose merchantgons didn¡¯t pay well, but at least they paid in bullion.  Carrying it to Xeladash enough of a journey that it was worth quite a bit more.


    Knowing all this, zie asked about the price to buy in to the caravan¡¯s collection... and hearing it, zie recoiled, zir tail striking the floor.  The table burst into laughter at seeing Denziu¡¯s response, and Choave said, ¡°What, can¡¯t afford our company?¡±


    Denziu shook zir head and said, "No, no!  I can!  In theory¡­  If that¡¯s what it takes¡­"  Zir voice was going weak.


    "Really?  Because that was way more than the price of one stake in the caravan fund," said Choave, grinning.  "We were just having some fun with you."


    They''d asked for nearly all of Denziu''s savings.  "I can pay it," zie said.  "Will I get the money back?"


    Choave nodded and struck the table, grinning as he did.  "We gather funds at the start of each trip and refund caravan shares when their owner leaves the caravan!  Along the way, they gain value from our profits on the journey."


    One of the other merchantgons, a gold-scaled vashael, asked, "Can you really pay that much?  That was a tenth of the caravan Choave quoted."  Now, this was a beautiful dragon who wore wealth embedded in her very scales, for a symmetrical line of eight large, identical rubies was somehow implanted in her neck, four to a side.  Her headfins were also pierced such that their three leading spars were ringed with four bands of cyan stone.  These things stood out against the backdrop of her shining colouration.


    "I can," zie said, but zie felt queasy saying it.  Was this safe?  Wasn''t this opening a catastrophic loss?  Clayselling was getting tapped out as the farmergons in the region mastered their art too much to need new soil samples every season.  Zie needed those zir savings.  "Wait, am I guaranteed to get at least the same amount when I leave the caravan?" zie asked, having thought of an issue.


    Choave shook his head and said, "No, you aren''t." He gestured back to the gold dragon who''d spoken a moment before.


    That beautiful golden vashael spoke once more, and she said, "I''m Chatulerin the Calculator.  I adjust the caravan shares at every stop.  You''ll lower everyone else''s percentages when you buy in, but you''re bringing in more working capital, so that''s fine.  When you leave, you''ll be cashing out your percentage, not your original purchase value.  If all goes well, it''ll be more than you bought in at."


    "So it really will be a tenth of the caravan," Denziu said.  The fins on zir cheeks spread fully in zir wonder.


    "Aye," said Choave, though a moment later Denziu thought zie''s misheard, as Choave took a breathe and said, "We...  don''t usually offer that much to newcomers, but since I''ve already said it and we''ve had a laugh at you over it, I''ll honour what we thought you couldn''t pay."


    So Denziu wrote a promissory note that gave zir a tenth of a caravan of thirteen dragons - two had failed to show to the pre-launch breakfast buffet, but were still expected to muster - and zie felt unlucky about it.  Direly unlucky.  If Baggil rewarded persistence... but Denziu wasn''t planning to run this route regularly.  Was zie?  Zie did potentially need a new job, but this caravan only ran once a year before everyone broke up to do other things.


    Zie settled zir unrest with a frosted atrocity from the buffet, and was surprised by the deliciousness of it.  Was eating like this its own misfortune somehow, that Tekagoli merchantgons should have dessert dishes at breakfast?


    There were many other dragons to meet at the breakfast, and Denziu became briefly the star of the room as Choave (after wiping his claws) introduced Denziu in brief to most of the caravan.


    There was Ekis of Tonturaseer, who shared the table with Choave.  She was a red-brown izerah who seemed remarkably small and slight compared to all the vrash and vashael who made up the rest of the caravan.  "Can you really pull a wagon?" asked Denziu, and Ekis nodded and said, "Yes, because mine hovers weightlessly!  I''m even faster travelling solo!"


    There was Kishka the Runepainted, a beige vashael like Denziu, who had blue paints on as contrasted with Denziu''s red paints.  He was also at the table with Choave.  Kishka''s paints were more complex, and didn''t look like a simple habit of self-application as Denziu used.  The two immediately recognised the likeness of their fashion sense.  "How do you keep such a complicated design colourfast?" Denziu asked, and was shocked when Kishka replied, "I hired a necromantic alterationist to change my colours.  This pattern is true!"


    There was Orachu the Unambitious, who was a very red vrash.  "Are you really named ''the Unambitious''?" Denziu asked, and Orachu replied, "Oh yes.  I''m a primordial, and I''ve been hauling goods since Theoma was young."


    There was Honom of Mosdenechrak, a dingy orange and brown vrash with a rather interesting exchange for the customary armour: in place of the customary vrash armour he had a suit of black cloth ''armour'' with gold letters embroidered into it.  Honom said not a word on being introduced, but merely dipped his head in acknowledgment.


    There was Lorma the Vegetarian, a grey and bronze vrash whose name lofted Denziu''s brows in curiosity.  "I''m a food procurer," she said in response to the unstated question.  "Crops are cheaper than meat, so I save on costs."


    There was Omrezen the Hunter, a green vrash.  Denziu immediately inquired after her surname, and Omrezen said, "After a lifetime of selling furs to merchantgons, I decided to start gathering up wagonloads of them to sell for myself in theomes that pay more for them."


    There was Mosdrao of Jiasote, a purple-scaled vrash with symmetrical green ''scratch'' patterns on his body.  "You''re far from home, if home is in Jiasote," Denziu said.  "No, not hardly!  I am practically still at home here," replied Mosdrao.  "We''re only a few days flight from Jiasote, but it''s hard to carry a wagon on the wing."


    The two who were absent were Oghai the Absent, who Choave assured Denziu zie would see plenty of throughout the journey, and Sharisen the Sociable, mention of whom drew a laugh from the crowd.  "She''s not sociable at all," said Mosdrao.  "She''ll pull with us, but you won''t hear from her," said Lorma.


    There was one last surprise that morning.  Toward the end of the meeting, Choave spoke to Denziu yet in a voice loud enough for others to hear, drawing a spotlight onto the newcomer: Choave said, "I know a single spot of true necromancy, vital for covering distance on the ground: a spell of unnatural vigour.  It defies the normal limitations of the body and invites some risk of injury in exchange for letting its bearer perform better for hours on end.  The caravan uses it to maintain a fast walking pace all day long, shortening the time it takes to get from place to place.  Are you willing to receive such a spell almost every day for nearly three months?"


    "Do you all go through this annually?" Denziu asked.


    Choave said, "We do.  May I cast it on you?"


    "When you say some risk of injury..." Denziu drew out the words in hesitation.


    Choave said, "We bear it with gratitude every day, all through the route.  If the spell hurts you, we have a passenger carriage and we''ll pull you while it heals.  May I cast the spell on you?"


    "Right now?" asked Denziu.


    "Best way for you to be fully informed."  Choave raised a hand with a strange shadow clinging to his arm.  "This way you''ll know how it feels.  May I?"


    Denziu looked down at the floor, hesitating a little longer, then lifted zir head. "Yes."


    So Choave stood before Denziu and raised his hands, each one trailing an eye-twisting black fume that writhed and curled through the air as it settled into Denziu''s body.  Zie felt... untouchable.  Perfectly mobile.  Every muscle in perfect harmony with every other, every joint unhindered and free.  If zie would feel this way every day on the route, zie imagined that zie might get addicted to the mere sensation of walking with the caravan.


    "You look like you''re enjoying that."  Choave nearly bubbled over in laughter.  "I take it I''ll see you again tomorrow?"


    "You will!" said Denziu.


    That flight home may have been the easiest flight Denziu had ever made.  Zie pushed zirself, arrived in record time, and seemed unharmed by the experience when the spell wore off that evening.

 Chapter 4: Mustering Point

    The next day, Denziu was ready to make good on that promissory note.  Ready, and terrified.  Losing all of zir savings was, zie reflected, properly ruinous.  Did that mean it would be safe to give them to Choave?  Zie had packed zir flying wagon with treasure.  Never had zie thought zie would be carrying such a precious cargo just to spend it all in one place.


    Losing that chest would be so ruinous, surely Baggil wouldn¡¯t claim it.  So would zie be able to safely carry a chest full of zir savings from Nidrio to Tekagol?  Yet conventional sense was fighting with the superstition of the Tekagoli Luck Charm.  Surely something, somehow, would go wrong.


    Baggil, the seer of Tekagol, the land god who promised dragons a greater average safety through the means of petty mishap¡­  As with all of the land gods, Baggil was certainly real.  Denziu shoved away the thought that the Tekagoli Luck Charm might be superstition.


    If anything, it was simply an initial misfortune that Choave had asked for so much money.  It had made Denziu feel sick to hear it and zie¡¯d felt sick again packing stored coin into chests and bags to bring to Choave, but it was still a petty misfortune.  A share in the caravan was a value that would grow with the success of the caravan.  It was worth more than the savings Denziu had kept in zir house in Nidrio.


    For a minute, Denziu hesitated over the bin of Tekagoli luck charms.  Zie plucked one out and discovered that zie¡¯d bought a bin of little amulets with Tekagoli slogans on them.


    "Baggil Loves You, Trust in Fate," was the legend on one of the charms.  "Baggil Loves You" was on one side, and "Trust in Fate" was on the other.  If zie kept that advice, zie''d just fly there.  Yet zie struggled to be willing to, zir faith not so given to the whims of the omniscient.  Zie was fairly desperate to keep zir savings, though zie didn''t wish to break zir promise to the caravan.


    What could go wrong?  Bad weather upsetting zir wagon?  The day was clear.  Banditry?  Impossible in Nidrio, improbable in Denxalue, a painful risk in Relny if dragons knew what zie was carrying.  Yet they would not!  No, no.  Banditry could be avoided by simply flying.  Denziu would be quickly through the area and need go nowhere risky.


    Making zirself close up the laden wagon, Denziu took to the sky outside of zir little stone house in Nidrio.  Zie departed without the wagon.


    Zie flew back to Tekagol, looking down on the spreading blanket of water-tolerant crops, the farms and wetlands plating the land of Tekagol between clusters of small buildings, looking for the familiar sight of Taltios'' livestock farm.  Zie flew without purse or pack, carrying nothing to be lost, save the Tekagoli Luck charm worn around zir neck.  When zie got there to knock on Taltios'' door, zir tail was knotting with anxiety.  The patio that had seemed so beautiful when zie first discussed seeking Baggil''s Blessing was lost to zir eyes.


    Taltios'' eyes took in Denziu''s pose in an instant, and the farmergon shook zir head.  "You ought to trust in Baggil more," zie said.


    "What?  Are you sure?" Denziu asked, surprised at receiving such an instant prescription.


    "No, I''m not, but you''ve already decided to take on that trust.  You''ll have to tell me what''s wrong.  I''ll go get a bowl of cider for each of us, just sit down on the patio and I''ll be right back."  That was Taltios.


    Returning only moments later with a bowl of Shaleara cider in each hand, Taltios set the bowls on the table and looked to Denziu, prompting words with a worried glance.  To this Denziu said, "I''ve been asked, I mean, I''ve agreed to...  I''ve agreed to finance a tenth of the caravan with nearly all of my savings."


    Taltios'' fins flared in surprise.  "Really?  That''s an unusual decision for a novice," zie said.


    "I know, but...  But I already signed a promissory note.  I don''t want to look like my words are useless," Denziu said, wringing zir hands again.  The cider bowl smelled ambrosial, but zir stomach was in a knot.  Zie couldn''t try it.


    Taltios thought for a few breaths, silently considering what to say, then said, "I think ''trust in Baggil'' is the right thing here.  Is there something wrong with the promise you''ve made?"


    "Yes, yes there is!" said Denziu, and then flinched back.  "Sorry.  Sorry to exclaim.  I have to make good on the promise with coin.  That means I have to transmit a large amount of coin from Nidrio to Tekagol.  It will all fit on my wagon, but I''m worried that something will happen along the way.  Do you think we can-" and here Denziu revealed that zie had come to Tekagol with a plan in mind "-get the entire family to come with me to the mustering point?  I''ll have a treasure chest of gold to hand over to the merchantgon."


    "Ah, I see," said Taltios with a nod.  "You''re worried about the Relny overflight."


    "Denxalue as well.  I can dodge Relny, but I can''t exactly get to Tekagol without leaving Nidrio," Denziu said, and with a sigh zie finally picked up the bowl of Shaleara cider to try a sip of it.  It was, of course, excellent.  Taltios didn''t make it zirself, but doubtless zie knew exactly who did.  The tart yet zesty flavour would¡¯ve been refreshing on a better day.  Today zie could only sip it.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "You shouldn''t worry about Denxalue," Taltios said with a frown.  "I believe Lauvera really loves you, and in any case Mom got us all pledges of protection from her.  If you just avoid flying over Relny, I think you should be safe..."  Zir frown was of concentration now, and doubtless zie was imagining the land seen from the air.  That was where Denziu''s mind was, at least.


    "So you really think I should just trust in Baggil?" Denziu said, with a tilt of zir head.


    Taltios nodded and said, "Yeah.  Go ask Mom, I bet she''ll say the same thing."


    So Denziu, who was 74 (and yet ever-young at a perpetual 24), but who had never been farther from home than Daubsyid (where there was much good clay for selling), flew anxiously to the home of zir mother in Nidrio.  "Do you think I''ll be safe delivering my savings to the caravan?" zie asked, and was enfolded in a hug by silver-scaled Praoziu.


    "Yes, goodness yes.  You shouldn''t worry at all, Denziu.  Baggil''s promise is true.  If you lose that money, it will be because you will have a better future someday without it.  Those charms will protect your health most," she said, and her strength in that hug was a gentle mountain.


    So Denziu flew a precious cargo to the mustering point through rain and blustering wind to give it away.


    The mustering was a bad place to meet dragons.  Everyone was too busy.  The weather was too miserable.  For a vrash or swaivshon, it would''ve been a challenging flight to get there through that rudely shoving wind; for a vashael with an amicus breeze, it was still surprisingly fatiguing.


    All the difficulty made it obvious why the caravan had a pre-mustering meet-and-greet event at the cafe.


    Surprisingly, Denziu didn''t even cause a stir alighting at the mustering ground with a floating wagon in tow.  Choave said with a dismissive ''hah'' that it was a luxury that would never pay off, and that was all.  Maybe buying in at a tenth had made Denziu look willing to splash out recklessly with money!  Choave must have thought it was purchased!


    It was not.  Denziu''s flying wagon was a gift from Praoziu, who had wanted Denziu to not be discouraged by trading in a good as low-margin and laborious as the soil itself.  Now it would see Denziu across a great distance without having to struggle with the weight of zir belongings.


    ¡°Ho there, Choave!¡± called Denziu.  ¡°I¡¯ve an account to reconcile.  This chest,¡± and here Denziu heaved a chest containing fifty years of savings towards Choave, ¡°contains the amount I promised for buying a caravan share.¡±


    Being a vrash and thus quadrupedal, Choave couldn¡¯t carry the chest, but beckoned with a tip of his head towards another wagon that Denziu could set the chest upon.  The two of them stood with their heads under the wagon¡¯s sailcloth roof as Denziu opened the chest.  Choave was duly impressed at the bounty of coins, and trusted Denziu without any such thing as counting it on the spot, sitting up then to fish from one of his pouches a prepared scroll-tube.  This he handed to Denziu.  ¡°Don¡¯t open this very often,¡± he said.  ¡°This is the record of your caravan share purchase.¡±


    So Denziu converted zir savings into one very expensive piece of paper.  Zie stashed the scroll-tube away in a pouch zie wore on zir body.


    As Denziu went back to zir own wagon, the red-brown izerah (Ekis of Tonturaseer) waved to Denziu with some excitement and pulled up alongside.  "We''ve got something they ought to envy!" shouted the izerah as she approached.  She pounded on the tongue of her flying wagon.


    "We do, but why do you have a flying wagon?" asked Denziu.  Ekis had mentioned at the brunch that she had one, but it was something of a surprise acquisition for a flightless izerah.


    "Because I can''t pull a laden wagon alone and I''d rather skip the draft animals!" said Ekis, who seemed keen to speak loudly even when she was standing next to Denziu and the excuse of the weather had declined with proximity.  "I''m smaller than a vashael or a vrash!" she added.  That was a rather obvious thing.


    The whole caravan was "skipping the draft animals".  The vrash and vashael merchantgons all pulled their own wagons in efficiency''s name.  The only exception, Oghai the Absent, turned out to be another izerah who lived semi-permanently in a passenger carriage pulled by one of the caravaneers; Ekis said he was a financier who had been rolling over a heavy stake in the caravan itself while tending to investments across the length of the trade route.  Oghai was both their largest shareholder and a trusted loyal friend.


    A train of local wagons met them at the mustering point with large wooden casks to hand over.  Denziu''s wagon couldn¡¯t carry any after the eight painted grain storage pots and their protective wrappings, but everyone else filled their wagons.  That every space was full was zir own first gift to the caravan, zie thought proudly: with the addition of zir buy-in, they had enough working capital to fill their entire carrying capacity with the expensive cider.


    By ordering they had fallen into line seemingly arbitrary, save that Choave and Kishka were walking at the front of the caravan, while Sharisen and Honom were walking at the back.  These had moved to their places first and were the only ones who seemed assigned to them, whereafter they had waited for the others to step in between them.


    The other four ranks seemed determined arbitrarily.  The second rank was taken up by Lorma and Mosdrao.  The third rank was Denziu and Ekis.  The fourth rank were Chatulerin and Omrezen.  The fifth rank contained Orachu and Lorvaza.  Choave hadn¡¯t even commented, but had marked their positioning in the log as though it were entirely natural.  Denziu fetched out zir journal and lev-i-quill to record them much as Choave had recorded them.


    There had been no negotiation of their marching order, but Ekis had sort of glommed to Denziu during the mustering, so they ended up departing together.


    When they were all lined up, loaded, and ready to go, Choave stood at the front of the caravan and stepped through a kind of ritual dance, with twisting vortices of shadow dripping from his body to the ground and then bleeding upwards from the ground over the limbs of the caravanners, Ekis and Oghai excepted.  That sense of invulnerability, strength, and freedom of motion which Denziu had experienced at the cafe settled into Denziu again.


    They were soon underway.  Tekagol¡¯s roads were really quite fine.  Zie wondered if the vrash-pulled wagons at the front were making them even smoother.  And then, because Denziu had an active mind and had never been in quite this situation before, zie wondered if there were even a single road-building team in Theoma.  Vrash could change the nature of the ground with every step!  A team of vrash caravaneers would be capable of building a road just by journeying.


    It was a possible origin of some of the roads in Theoma, but the roads through zir beloved Denxalue were made of great fitted stone pieces that had been buried deep to reach solid ground.  It didn''t always work.  The roads in Denxalue were still sunken and mired in some places, as seemed to please Lauvera''s swampy aesthetics.

 Chapter 5: Denxalue

    To get to Taithorkey from Tekagol required crossing Denxalue. It was a dingy place. The road was up on a bed of stone that rose above the muck of the swampy forests. Alongside the road were high-rooted trees hoisted above the slow-flowing waters, their branches weeping over the road as the rain continued. At points the great stone road had sunken despite the efforts of the road-builders, and though none dipped all the way to the muck, the caravan was slowed by the unevenness.


    Ekis had made the walking easier. The untiring izerah at Denziu''s side was a font of stories about the deep-under, of all things. The so-called ¡°deep-under¡± was a realm of realms far below the surface of Theoma, where wingless dragons had their own societies.


    There were myrghon, which species Denziu had never seen, who were small and wingless, but surrounded by floating gems that they used like extra hands. The myrghon (Ekis claimed) were tinkerers who made great big machines that they powered by slotting their gems into them. She wanted to see myrghon heavy machinery very badly.


    There were myrskor as well, the other dragons of the deep-under, who had great big earfins like the finniest vashael and who were friendly light-summoning dragons. Myrskor had magnificent wingspans just like the izerah, Ekis said, and Denziu had burst into laughter despite the exhaustion of spending all day walking.


    For izerah, of course, have no wingspan at all.


    Ekis was unaffected by the walking. By the end of the day, for the first time in zir life, Denziu envied the tirelessness of the izerah quite bitterly. This is what zie thought about while preparing a price card for the Tekagoli charms and the pigment phials zie had made. A brush dipped in zir darkest brown paint, and a terrible longing to be an izerah, that was the taste of the evening.


    That risen stone road had various off-ramps across the theome. When the sun was setting overhead, they pulled off the main road at the next off-ramp. The vrash in the caravan then unhooked themselves to go stomp a patch of muddy ground into hardness. Vrash magic flowed through their feet, packing grass and soil into a circle of sedimentary rock. When it was ready the wagons were pulled onto it and circled. Tarps were unrolled and pulled between the wagons to provide a dry space large enough for dragons to sleep in. They had no privacy in the camp, but between the firmed ground and the tarp, they did at least have dryness in a swamp.


    That next morning, Denziu saw that the rising shadow of Choave''s unnatural vigour spell excluded zir that morning. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you cast that on me?¡± asked Denziu.


    ¡°You¡¯re injured,¡± Choave said gruffly. ¡°Can tell by how you¡¯re moving. We¡¯ll tie your wagon to someone else¡¯s, and you¡¯ll rest today in Oghai¡¯s carriage.¡± Road injury. Too much walking.


    Thus on the second day of the caravan''s journey, Denziu found zirself in the passenger carriage. Their shareholder Oghai the Absent owned the carriage that accompanied the caravan. He was a blue-backed and yellow-bellied izerah. This was one of the two who had been missing from the cafe.


    Vashael being larger than izerah, Oghai had to rearrange the interior to make room for Denziu, and while the izerah was working on doing so, Denziu asked, ¡°Is it a problem that I¡¯m displacing you?¡±


    ¡°It is not,¡± said Oghai. ¡°I walk alongside the caravan most days. Staying in one place all day would be harder than keeping up.¡± He came out of the carriage carrying a chest, and hauled it away to drop it in another wagon for the day.


    With Oghai finished, Denziu climbed aboard. All of Oghai¡¯s furnishings were pushed aside against the wall. The space opened wasn''t quite large enough for a sprawled vashael to be at ease. Still, it was a relief on sore muscles.


    Denziu''s wagon was pulled along without complaint as the levitating thing contributed little burden. A small, wry part of Denziu''s mind wondered if Choave would change his mind about the value of a flying wagon when he realised how much more he could carry if they were all using more such easy, frictionless vehicles.


    Denziu passively watched the mucky swamp going by, occasionally stretching to ease the suffering of complaining muscles, and trying not to groan from the intensity of the ache. At a few points, when the caravan slowed to deal with poor roads, zie got out of the passenger carriage and walked alongside. Staying in one place all day hurt more than mild activity.


    Much of the time though, zie talked to the caravanner who pulled Oghai''s carriage. That was Orachu the Unambitious, who Denziu had met briefly at the brunch.


    ¡°Do you always pull Oghai¡¯s carriage?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I pull Oghai¡¯s carriage sometimes and a different wagon other times.¡±


    ¡°Who else pulls this wagon, if not always you?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°Sharisen the Sociable usually pulls Oghai¡¯s carriage,¡± said Orachu. ¡°Have you met her yet?¡±


    There were only two dragons in the caravan who Denziu had seen at the mustering, but not at the brunch, and zie knew who Oghai was. The remaining outlier was a white-scaled vashael who must therefore have been Sharisen the Sociable. ¡°We haven¡¯t spoken,¡± said Denziu.


    ¡°Be nice to her, even if she¡¯s cold,¡± said Orachu. ¡°She¡¯s as old as old gets, and she¡¯s seen more tragedy than most in Theoma.¡±


    Denziu said, ¡°You said you¡¯re a primordial, right? You must be super-old, too!¡±


    ¡°Super-old is right. I¡¯m second gen, but first gen for most purposes. I¡¯m 1,203 years old. My parents had me when they were 24.¡±


    Denziu forgot zir aches entirely with this conversation topic. ¡°24! That¡¯s crazy young. What was it like being one of the first children ever born on Theoma?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Orachu took a moment to think, then said, ¡°I had siblings because all the early births were triplets, but there were no other children at all. Hardly anything was built back then and the population was low, so we grew up isolated in the wilderness, but Raul gave us summoned dragons for tutors. They were still teaching basic skills personally all through the first century.¡±


    Denziu listened closely, and when Oghai stopped talking zie said, ¡°I was born into civilization. You got to see it start from nothing.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°And I did. I saw Tekagol when it was mostly wild, though already Baggil was getting started with farmergon abstracts,¡± here Orachu interrupted himself with a glance back at Denziu, ¡°Do you know what an abstract is?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°A summoned being. Looks real, but it¡¯s got no soul. It¡¯s just part of the land god. Just like the summoned dragon tutors I had.¡±


    ¡°So Tekagol¡¯s first farmergons were Baggil¡¯s ¡®abstracts¡¯?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The land gods wanted us to develop in certain ways, even then. I didn¡¯t want to refuse them or anything, but I was a bit sceptical, and I couldn¡¯t think of anything that made me want to tear up the ground or pull down the trees. I settled on going from place to place asking what other dragons had and what they needed. That¡¯s how I got started as a haulergon.¡±


    ¡°You said you were sceptical?¡±


    Orachu didn¡¯t skip a beat in pulling Oghai¡¯s wagon, but his voice grew heavy. ¡°Theoma got boring. Dragons lost their bite. I grew up flying and eating raw meat. Now I walk laden and eat bread. Sometimes I feel like I should¡¯ve flown away to Niazion with the other dragons who rejected development.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d you stay?¡±


    ¡°Oghai.¡± Orachu carried his head higher. ¡°He was the first dragon I ever met who was younger than myself, and I was still a child at the time. He was so bright and avid, and he loved everything that was built. I couldn¡¯t bear to fly away from him.¡±


    Oghai checked in on Denziu several times that day as well. This seemed to be one of the functions of Oghai on the trail, as Denziu saw and overheard the blue-scaled runner move along the road speaking to different caravanners throughout the day.


    ¡°Do you know how old everyone on the caravan is?¡± Denziu asked at one of those check-ins.


    ¡°Most of them. How old are you?¡± Oghai asked back.


    ¡°I¡¯m 74,¡± said Denziu. It was a young age on Theoma, where dragons live forever, though not so young that Denziu couldn¡¯t be seeking a second career by now. Zie¡¯d been a clayseller for decades.


    Oghai¡¯s brow ridges and earfins went up with surprise. ¡°Unless Lorvaza earned fantastic wealth at a young age, you¡¯re the youngest on the caravan.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how old Lorvaza is?¡±


    Oghai shook his head. ¡°No. Not a clue. Although I would be shocked if she were younger than you.¡±


    ¡°Who is second youngest?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°Well, possibly Lorvaza,¡± hedged Oghai, but then he said, ¡°Else it¡¯s Chatulerin the Calculator. She¡¯s 349 years old.¡±


    All this lead up to what Denziu wanted to talk about. ¡°Orachu told me you¡¯re only ten years younger than he is.¡±


    ¡°Oh dear,¡± said Oghai, looking caught aback. ¡°That came up already? Please don¡¯t call me a primordial. I know I should be one, but I don¡¯t really feel like a primordial¡­¡±


    Orachu cut in cheerfully, ¡°Stop worrying about that and tell zir who you were!¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Oghai laughed awkwardly and brushed his shoulder. ¡°I was Zyrine¡¯s first architect. Zyrine wasn¡¯t a big city yet, so in that day, I ran all across the region trying to get involved in every early building project.¡±


    Orachu said, ¡°Oghai kept getting me involved in early building projects, too. Sometimes I was flying about to catch up to him.¡±


    Around midday, the caravan paused without unhooking from their wagons, and Oghai distributed food up and down the column.


    As zie accepted a quarter loaf of bread for a meal, Denziu asked, ¡°Are you really named Oghai the Absent?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am. Want to know what it means?¡± offered Oghai with a smile.


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    ¡°I own properties in ten different theomes along this route,¡± said Oghai. ¡°Since I can only be in one place at a time, that means to most of my tenants and employees, I¡¯m absent most of the time. I¡¯ve taken it as a name; I¡¯m Oghai the Absent.¡±


    ¡°Do the people you work with ever take advantage of your absences?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°Not often. You know, I can only do what I do, because I¡¯ve found so many dragons I can trust,¡± Oghai said with a powerful emphasis on the word trust. Denziu had to suppress an eyeroll. Oghai¡¯s delivery sounded didactic.


    The dragons zie was travelling with were fascinating. The sore muscles of having pushed zirself so hard were not. The thought of having to walk all day again was a dreadful one. Zie thought of it as another misfortune that Baggil placed on zir, because the side effect of the vigour spell had only seemed to affect zir. Although it was very small, zie could not forget the feeling of the little pewter bird charm at zir neck.


    Near the end of the second day of travelling the endless swamp gave way to increasingly vast trees and the road signs started referring to places in Taithorkey whose names Denziu had only read on maps. With Choave¡¯s spell they had fast-marched through Denxalue just as fast as possible. They had no business in the swamp theome.


    When they pulled the wagons from the road at a clearing, which was only a clearing at ground level owing to the exaggerated trees, they camped that night under the vast trees of Taithorkey. Since zie had been carried all across Denxalue without the group stopping at any of Denxalue¡¯s markets, Denziu asked Choave, ¡°Why did we bypass Denxalue?¡±


    To this Choave replied, "Denxalue is Fated to a kind of impoverished stagnation. There''s little profit in this place, and a bit of everlasting bog iron doesn''t do enough to make up for that."


    That attitude shocked Denziu, and that night zie unwrapped several of the painted pots from Denxalue to show them around the caravan, defending the reputation of the pottergons of Denxalue by showing their names and best works to a caravan of Tekagoli merchantgons. Zie did not try to convince the caravan to go back, but was merely the entertainment of the night, sharing painted pots in firelight.


    They were unwieldy things, the pots that Denziu had acquired. Too tall to pass around, they stood sentinel around the fire that evening, with the flickering light revealing the three that Denziu had selected: the pot with the weeping willows, the one with with a vashael poling a boat, and the panorama of Badyen. These were the best by firelight in Denziu¡¯s opinion, although none of them were ideal in this light.


    ¡°So this is what brought you out here!¡± said Choave, admiring the panorama of Badyen.


    You have good taste, Denziu thought. ¡°Yes, and that is my favourite of the pots.¡±


    Omrezen lounged near the fire. ¡°Are ceramics with paints like this always available in Denxalue?¡±


    ¡°Only sometimes, if you know which pottergons to buy from,¡± Denziu said proudly. ¡°Their brushing is inconsistent, but their lesser works are still good pots.¡±


    Kishka was studying the weeping willows pot. ¡°I want to see the other side, but I don¡¯t want to handle a piece of artwork. Oghai, can I borrow a light?¡±


    Oghai fetched a lantern on a stick from his carriage, aglow with an everlight. He carried this over to where Kishka stood, and the two of them circled the pots that Denziu had set up, studying together the side of the pots away from the firelight.


    ¡°Are you regretting not going to Denxalue¡¯s markets?¡± boasted Denziu.


    Chatulerin said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we know how to sell these. I¡¯ve no doubt they¡¯re worth a good profit to the right merchantgon, but I think working outside of our specialty like that would leave us stuck carting the same stock all over.¡±


    ¡°No, it wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Choave. ¡°We¡¯d sell them as pottery. Good pottery, but still just pots. It¡¯d be bad competition for Denziu, too. I think we¡¯d fairly ruin Denziu¡¯s journey if we tried to pick up more of these.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Denziu was taken aback.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± said Choave with a laugh.

 Bonus Chapter: Dragon Guide

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

 Chapter 6: Taithorkey

    When the caravan moved on the next day, twice that day the caravan passed small villages on the ground.  Despite the size of the trees, there were some hints that the rumours that Taithorkey''s cities were entirely in the trees were overstated.  Yet both times, when Denziu looked up, there were still more buildings attached to and bridged between the vast trees of Taithorkey, and some of the buildings hugged tree trunks all the way up so that Denziu wondered if the tree or the building would stand apart from each other.  It was clearly a city which extended upwards into the forests to use the oversized trees of Taithorkey as foundations in their own right.


    Neither of the two villages was considered a market destination by Choave, but as each was a good day of walking apart from the prior, the caravan stopped each time.  The first was Relaith.  The second was Tirisu.  If there was anything exceptional about them, Denziu was largely too sore to notice.  Ekis made sympathetic noises during the walk between Denxalue and Relaith, but Choave¡¯s blessing wasn¡¯t enough to make Denziu fit for conversation that day.  Between Relaith and Tirisu, Denziu was once more carried in Oghai''s carriage.  Zie wondered how many times zie would be carried before zie could keep up the pace.


    They came to a third village upon the ground in Taithorkey and passed a signpost that said, "Welcome to Tassilya".  Denziu''s memory of the maps suggested they were on the far side of Taithorkey by now!  The caravan trooped together through Tassilya seeking some destination that Choave had in mind.  Despite zir soreness, Denziu noticed remarkably fine wooden construction all around.  This was a shamefaced hint as to why Denxalue was so poorly regarded; Lauvera liked a primitive style of construction and many of the buildings in Denxalue had a thrown-together kind of appearance that better appealed to her.  Contrast Taithorkey, where it looked like there was never a plank out of place and tasteful paint jobs added colour to every house.  The land god of Taithorkey must be a fan of a more prosperous architecture.


    Far above, Denziu suspected there was still more of a very fine architecture, though from underneath zie could see little but the undersides of wooden platforms and rope bridges.


    The caravanners were almost under the largest tree that Denziu had ever seen when Choave called for a stop next to some construct of ropes and wood with a yellow vrash attendant seated near it.  The attendant had a very appealing symmetrical pattern of white spots on his snout, down his neck, and across his side, which is what Denziu was paying attention to while Choave spoke briefly to him from the front of the caravan.  Yet Denziu was attentive enough to notice that the exchange concluded with Choave handing over some papers to the attendant, who then handed them back and called upwards: "Platform coming down!"


    The attendant pulled on one of the dangling ropes, and there was some chiming above, and then a platform big enough to pull a wagon onto dropped towards them.  While it was still coming down, Choave turned to caravan to shout, "Mosdrao, over here!  Everyone else, give us space!"


    The caravan pulled out of formation, with most of the wagons going across the street and one pulling up next to the wooden box that was the platform¡¯s landing point.  When the platform got low enough, Denziu saw a white vrash in splendid blue armour of an even more obviously decorative style than most vrash wore.


    There was a brief conversation between Choave and this new vrash, followed by a few minutes of opening boxes and examining their contents, whereafter two casks were placed on the platform, which ascended upwards carrying away the white vrash with it.  "Alright, no issues here, and a good price for a part of our stock," said Choave to the group.  ¡°Next stop, the caravanserai!"


    "What''s a caravanserai?" called Denziu.  It seemed like an important enough question to interrupt with.


    "Inn for caravanners, they''ve space and security for wagons!" called back Choave.


    The caravanserai proved an inn with a great domed area and gates large enough to pull a wagon through.  It provided security from all sides, including above, so that nobody could get in to steal from caravans even with wings on their back.  There were berths all around the edge of the dome for wagons to be stored in.


    It proved a swift place to check in, and in any case Chatulerin took over the arrangements rather at once, so that Denziu stuck around only briefly to see what kind of accommodations were involved.  Being satisfied about where zie was to go that evening, and the caravan having reached their destination in Taithorkey rather before the evening itself, zie set out to acquaint zirself with the afternoon market in hopes of a sale.  Choave''s blessing was still on Denziu, not yet faded with the evening light, fending off soreness from the long walk.


    The difference between a caravan and a holiday was too readily apparent, Denziu thought ruefully as zie pulled zir wagon towards the market on the ground level.  All around on the trees of Taithorkey were houses and even businesses surrounded by great platforms and connected with bridges.  Yet wagons were for the ground, and thus (despite zir flying wagon) so was Denziu.


    Zie could hardly check off Taithorkey as a place zie would someday hope to visit if zie was going to be stuck upon the ground.  Yet despite this drive to visit the treetop district of Tassilya someday, Denziu was too conscious of having already spent far more than zie had gained, and zie was not in the mood to be a tourist.  (Too sore.)  There was no sense at all in shorting any of the hours zie might try to offload goods.  Being present for the afternoon was hardly as good as being present all day, but they were not there for leisure.


    There would be tomorrow as well by the same method.  They''d discussed it already, the caravan was staying for a full market day at each stop, plus overnight.  Departure would be in the morning.


    The market being for the caravans in part, the caravanserai was unsurprisingly quite close it; there wasn''t the faintest difficulty in finding the path from one to the next.  There were then all manner of stalls and carts with wares displayed, and a great deal of the tools and adornments on display seemed to be made of bone or ivory.  There were also good hides and furs, so that considered with the tools of bone Denziu got the sense that Taithorkey was something of a hunter''s paradise.


    All across the market there were countless interesting scents from such as food stalls and vendorgons carrying spices, incenses, and forest herbs.  At the food stalls there were many vendorgons carrying the rich organ meats which are a delicacy to almost any dragon, and this was yet another way that Taithorkey seemed a hunter''s paradise; the finest parts of the animal were abundant!  Denziu could not pass such places without longing to browse the market, and perhaps buy spiced kidneys for the road... but there was no sense in that, no.  Too pricey this time.  The food the caravan had was more than good enough.


    The curiosities of the market would be no use until zie had sold some of what zie brought already, and the great bulk of zir journey was for the pottery.  Zie did not need tools of bone nor furs, as none of these were goods whose proper pricing zie could gauge.  Doubtless this would be a misery down the line seeing some manner of obvious market advantage to be missed, but in that zie would trust in zir tenth-share of the caravan to gain by Choave''s greater familiarity with the trade corridor.  For Denziu''s own gain the more important duty by far was to find somewhere that zir wagon could be set up in the hope of selling some of what zie''d brought along, and so zie manoeuvred the weightless thing through the crowd to find an opening broad enough to set things up for display.


    When at last Denziu had found enough open space where setting up the wagon wouldn''t block another trader and would impair the crowds only a little, zie pushed the floating wagon down to the ground to make this next bit easier.  Zie first partially unwrapped four pots to show them off, then next hauled the bin of Tekagoli luck charms up to the lid of one of the pots, and opened the bin so that the price card inside the lid would be displayed.  Finally, zie set out zir pouch of paints upon the lid of another pot, then with everything set up zie lifted the wagon three inches off the ground so that it would be apparent to perceptive passers-by what a wonder zie had brought to market: the wagon flying unheld.


    Zie kind of wished that the paints and pots were as enchanted as the wagon and the charms, just to be all of one magical vendor performance.


    The phials of paint zie hung from the front of the charms bin: beige, ochre, red, and brown.  Soil hues were the specialty of Denziu as a pigment-maker.  The per-phial price was written upon the price-card that hung from the lid of the charms bin.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Before the charms and the pots zie planted zirself, standing before the lifted wagon.  "Luck charms for long life," zie called.  "Soil-tone paints, hand-ground soil-tones!"  These and others like them were the kind of things zie added to the babbles of the market.  The pots zie did not advertise; in truth, zie felt selling them so near to Denxalue would be disappointing.  Zie could not ask much of a mark-up yet when Taithorkey neighbored Denxalue!


    Zie sold only one phial of paint, and that wasn''t surprising.  The soil tones were obviously local.  Zie had more hope for them much farther in the journey when they were in northern Kelkaith.  Here, zir brightest, most vibrant shade was the red paint that zie used on zirself, and after days of sore travel zie wasn''t currently painted.  Without seeing the example on Denziu as they would when Denziu sold such paints ordinarily, zie suspected few of the passers-by would quite grasp how much cosmetic potential Denziu''s red paints had.  In all of two days at the market, zie traded one phial of red paint for local coins of carven ivory that would still be good at Mosdenechrak, and no other paints sold.


    Trying to sell Tekagoli luck charms was the more interesting thing here.  The flying wagon made dragons much more inclined to believe that Denziu''s luck charms were in possession of real magic.  Denziu''s forthright willingness to admit that they were Tekagoli luck charms had dragons very inclined to believe that Denziu''s luck charms were in possession of cursed magic.  Were it not such a bane of profit, it would have been funny watching dragons recoil.  Zie did want to make back zir money on the bin of charms; they''d been cheap, not free.


    Yet in selling them, zie was faced with a parade of barter attempts.  Some of the wonders of the market came to Denziu.  Quite a few of the dragons in Taithorkey seemed to be trying to conserve their coins by bartering away what was surplus to them in order to acquire the pewter luck charms.  Despite zir previous thought that zie would not take on any goods of bone or ivory, Denziu gained in this way a bone knife with artful carvings in the handle that zie thought zie would never use to actually cut, but could sell on later as an artful object in its own right, and a set of bone fishing tackle that suggested either there were fish-laden streams in Taithorkey or else that some of the bone carving done in this place was wholly for export.  That would be unsaleable for some time, Denziu thought (for there were no fishable waters near Mosdenechrak), but it should eventually be worth more than the pewter Tekagoli charm.  Zie moved several more in exchange for aromatic phials of ground herbs, and refused someone who wanted to trade a charm for a fur.


    Such were the sales of Tekagoli charms that day, and all of the charms sold to dragons who Denziu was almost sure were drawn to zir careful explanations that Tekagoli luck was not a curse, it was a long-term blessing that caused small amounts of bad luck to happen in ways that averted large amounts of suffering.  Almost sure.


    That evening in the caravanserai, Choave spoke of the caravan''s collective trade.  He spoke briefly, in negation; he had found nothing new to carry between Taithorkey and Mosdenechrak.  This was a disappointment.  Two casks of cider sold in Taithorkey opened up space for four crates of the artful bonework tools produced in Taithorkey.  They were ordinarily well-sold in Mosdenechrak, which was a crossroads where valuable goods might sell in four directions.  This time, there was none of that.  The vendorgons who Choave knew had either no surplus due to ill fortune, or else they had already sold their stock into local markets and the claws of other merchantgons.


    Well, perhaps that was Baggil, taking a toll on them.  It must be to avert something else in the future; such was the promise of Tekagoli luck.


    When Denziu returned to the open market the next day, zie had slightly more infamy and faced graver dilemmas with dragons starting to approach who seemed a little too glad to buy Tekagoli luck.  Denziu traded out telling zirself that zie had no reason to believe in the buyers'' ill intention, but zir stomach really fell the first time someone approached asking, "Are you the luck-curse vendorgon?"  It was a friendly question, but it reminded Denziu of what zie''d heard was another common use of Tekagoli luck charms: to "give" them to dragons in secret.  Baggil, perhaps believing too much in zir own benevolence, would afflict dragons with Tekagoli luck whether or not they knew they had the charm among their belongings.


    "They''re not luck curses," Denziu said, zir whole stance drooping slightly.  "They''re Tekagoli luck."


    "Yeah, but dragons don''t want Tekagoli luck," said the dragon.  He was a burly black vrash in light black armour.  It was leather armour, not metal armour; it looked like local work.  "So they''re curses."


    Denziu frowned and stood straighter again.  "Why do you want to buy a curse?"


    "I want to buy five," he said.  "To sell."


    Zie almost laughed.  That was why zie''d bought far more than five. Yet zie hadn''t been insisting that they were curses at the time. This was, as the saying went, ''fishy''.  More than that, it was a moral dilemma.  Zie could get away with selling five Tekagoli luck charms and leave the next day.  Safe.  They''d be untraceable.  Yet this guy was clearly trying to be a curse peddler.  He was openly and bluntly trying to be a curse peddler, even.  So the charms would surely be given to five dragons each of whom hated somebody.


    That meant five times, Baggil would start trying to pour moderately bad luck onto somebody hated... but each time, it would be to avert greater suffering in the future.  That was how Baggil worked.  The charms worked whether dragons knew they were present or not, but they worked to avert greater future sufferings even when they were ''gifted'' in secret hatred.


    Denziu made a snap decision to keep to the ideology of Baggil in selling the charms.  If Baggil would do it, then it must be worth something in the eyes of a talented seer among land gods.


    "Deal," said Denziu, and gestured towards the bin.  "While you''re here, want a phial of paint?"


    "No?" said the vrash as he was leaning in over the bin to pick out five of the little pewter charms.


    "Really?  They''re scale-safe," said Denziu.  "You might look good with a runemark on your cheek in a light colour."


    "Is it magic paint?" asked the curse-peddle, sitting up before Denziu.  A fistful of little pewter charms went into a pouch, and from another was drawn a coin-roll.


    "It''s not," admitted Denziu, taking the price of five Tekagoli luck charms in good gold coins.  "Maybe next time I run this route I''ll see if I can get enchanted paint first."


    "Yeah, that''d go with your wagon!  Thanks for the luck-curses, I''ll make sure these''ll do somebody harm," said the vrash with a flick of a claw and a grin.


    Denziu smiled back, but it was a mask of a smile.  ''Trust in Baggil'' was a bitter thought just then.  In all likelihood, those charms were going out into the world to drive dragons apart from each other.  For the greater good, Baggil might say, though that land god wasn''t known for talking to dragons very often about anything.  The introverted land god of Tekagol''s ''hermit farmergon kingdom'', Baggil was.


    To give away a luck curse, one had to hold a luck curse.  In this way Denziu reasoned that Baggil would know which dragons to drive apart from each other, and (come to think of them) so would the less famous land gods who maintained the other five beacons of ¡®Tekagoli¡¯ Luck on Theoma.  It was for the best to just let the curse-givers have the charms.  Plus, a bit of notoriety would help Denziu sell out the bin of charms.


    Zie wanted to find it funny.  Zie¡¯d bought the bin of charms with words struck onto them.  They were supposed to be cheerful.  Wouldn¡¯t it be funny to see ¡°Baggil Loves You¡± unexpectedly?  Yet zie sold a charm that day with ¡°Persistence¡± struck into one side and ¡°Humility¡± struck into the other.  That just sounded like someone in Taithorkey was going to try to force someone else to eat humble pie by hiding ¡°Humility¡± in their belongings.  That wasn¡¯t funny.  Humble pie only tastes good when one is buying it for oneself.


    Zie sold a few more charms that day, and practised that mask of a smile as zie tried not to worry about whether dragons were buying them for good or ill.


    That evening, Choave came to the caravanserai with a vrash and a vohntrai in tow.  These were dragons who wanted accompanied passage to Tanoriz and then to Mosdenechrak, and who would thus travel on foot and in Oghai''s Carriage, respectively.  Apparently, Oghai''s lodgings could be bought out for a short time.


    The vrash was hardly of note, being a brown vrash of common appearance wearing ordinary vrash armour that spoke of common stature and no great wealth.  The vohntrai was a temptation to gawk, for this was a rare kind of dragon that Denziu had never seen: tall, thin, and emphatically two-legged.  The green-scaled vohntrai had red twisting runes painted onto their body, which stood in a stance that Denziu had never seen before: upon two feet with a straight spine like a kalla.  Zie couldn¡¯t help gawking.


    Eventually, the two departed again.  The caravanserai was locked overnight and it was not permissible to bring in guests other than those which had been initially registered, so the two soon-to-be passengers were obliged to return to their own lodgings.  Yet they came again to the caravanserai in the morning when it was unlocked, and joined with the caravan then.  Denziu was glad of their presence; if they couldn¡¯t carry a chest of carved bone, passengers to Mosdenechrak were better than nothing.

 Chapter 7: Tanoriz

    The next morning, the dragons of Choave''s caravan packed up and departed early.  Rather than go straight on to Mosdenechrak (which was their next proper destination and was northeast of Tassilya), they departed to the northwest for Tanoriz, in which theome there was nothing at all to find for merchantgons save that there was one very well-regarded inn run directly by the land god of Tanoriz, whose name was Enderenuskeld.


    There was no grant of the necromantic blessing that day.  Choave said the distance between Tassilya and Tanoriz was too short to justify the spell¡¯s risk, and that they would be in Tanoriz shortly once they were beyond the forest of Taithorkey.  Denziu didn¡¯t mind.  Two days of relative ease while selling charms had left Denziu feeling much restored from prior fatigue, and zie felt zie was keeping up better than ever.  All the exercise from the caravanning would surely show in zir legs.


    As they travelled along the road beneath the dense canopy of Taithorkey¡¯s vast-treed forest, Denziu asked Ekis, ¡°So what¡¯s Tanoriz like?¡±


    Ekis promptly lifted her head and spoke loud enough to be heard by the rows ahead and behind, ¡°Hey, Mosdrao!  Tell Denziu what Tanoriz is like!¡±


    ¡°The inn there is legendary!¡± called back Mosdrao.  ¡®They sell steak for the price of pottage, and pottage for the price of air!¡±


    Ekis turned and called back towards the row behind them, ¡°Omrezen, what¡¯s Tanoriz like?¡±


    ¡°Terrible.  Nobody hunts in this theome, the land god Enderenuskeld just summons food at his Inn!¡± called back Omrezen.


    Chatulerin added, ¡°It¡¯s good for our budget, seeing as we don¡¯t hunt along the way.¡±


    ¡°If food is so cheap here, why don¡¯t people settle in the area?¡± asked Denziu.


    ¡°It¡¯s forbidden,¡± called back Mosdrao.  ¡°Enderenuskeld asks people not to, and I¡¯ve never heard of anyone defying him.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes I order meat here,¡± said Lorma.  ¡°I like that the summoned meats here were never first alive.¡±


    Ekis gestured forward with a hand and said, ¡°This is a good place!  We visit here twice a year!¡±


    A few hours into their journey, the trees of Taithorkey were starting to thin out in favour of smaller trees and broader grassy clearings.  There were no more tree-villages overhead, though treehouses never quite stopped, and indeed there was to the edge of the theome an increasing density of houses along the road.  The road to Tanoriz seemed to have a lure all its own for settlers.


    While passing through a civilised area, or what Denziu had thought looked like a civilised area, Choave''s voice cut through Denziu''s long-walking reverie.  ¡°All stop!¡±


    The road crossing the border of Taithorkey and Tanoriz was, as it turned out, a toll road.


    It had not been a toll road the year prior.


    It was not a very well-organised toll road right now.


    It looked rather more like a highwaygon trap.  They were surrounded by vashael with weapons and vrash with ugly war paints.  A pale green vrash with a violet skull mask was leering at Denziu from the roof of a nearby house.  Denziu tightened zir grip on zir wagon.  This was too precious to lose.


    A red vashael who Denziu assumed was the leader of the highwaygon group approached Choave at the head of the caravan.  He was carrying a spear.  "We''ve need of your goods, good merchantgon."


    "At fair prices?" asked Choave.


    "In a manner of speaking.  We''re the new maintainers of this road.  Keepers of the peace.  Long-suffering defenders of those who can afford to travel long distances just to eat a meal in a new place," said the highwaygon leader.  ¡°We won''t take all you have.  This is just a toll.  Now, consider yourself warned."  The red vashael said all of this, and then made a hand gesture to the others.


    The highwaygons surged close.  There were only twelve to the fifteen of the caravan (though three of the caravan were either izerah or vohntrai, both smaller kinds of dragon), but most of the caravanners were hitched to wagons and none of them were fighters.  Such a hazard as active banditry was so rare across the Tachanigh-Kelkaith trade corridor that none of them were mentally prepared to fight.


    Choave raised his empty hands to the approaching highwaygons.  "No, friends. Just a small toll. We will gladly pay."


    The "small toll" was more irregular than that.  The highwaygons looked into each and every wagon and took something from all of them.  Denziu would''ve fought for zir wagon itself, but they laughed at Denziu''s nervousness and didn''t try to take such a prize.  Instead, they offloaded Denziu''s personal cask of late Shaleara cider.  That was a bit too ''easy come, easy go'' to make an issue of.  From several of the merchantgons, they demanded a few coins each.  The caravan''s two ''passengers'' (only one of whom was in the passenger carriage) got the same treatment and were shorter of coin in the passage of the bandits.  Chatulerin, who kept the treasury, lost a small bag of coins that Denziu prayed were not minted of too precious a metal.


    From Lorvaza''s wagon, there was a jingling heist followed by a sharp cry, "That is NOT a small toll!"  There was some shouting hostility from this, threats from the bandits and snarls on both sides, but then the leader of the bandits intervened, and affirmed (rather surprisingly, Denziu thought) that indeed the toll was to be small, but there was to be something from everyone.  Thus it was that a moment later, the highwaygons took something different from Lorvaza: the bin that Denziu knew contained nothing but Tekagoli charms.  Those, Lorvaza agreed, were a small toll, and so the highwaygons took away a small wealth in pewter figurines on straps.  Lorvaza said nothing about the ill tidings on them, and neither did anyone else in the caravan, though of course they had all had their attention drawn.


    It was not a small value to lose, given that the charms were profitable to sell at a merchantgon''s mark-up, but it was a victory of an esoteric kind: the luck of Baggil''s infliction would be surely worse upon awful bandits than it was upon goodly merchantgons!  If they wore those charms, their days as a bandit group would end in misery.


    Not that the goodly merchantgons were free of misery.  What had been a high-spirited trot to Tanoriz Inn became a miserable slog to Tanoriz Inn.  With anxious and irritable spirits the dragons of the caravan growled that they would tell of this loss to Enderenuskeld, and though they walked through green fields of tall grass where the wind swayed shimmering bands of grass alongside the raised roads of that grassland, there was little joy in the journey.


    Slowed by their poor mood, it took entirely too long to get to Tanoriz Inn.  Hours passed again before the orange-scaled incarnate avatar of Enderenuskeld met them at the door to his inn.  The land god appeared to be perhaps the only fat izerah that Denziu had ever seen.  He greeted them with an air of solemnity and bid them enter.


    Tanoriz Inn was a vast hall.  It was a singular building intended to serve many dragons as an eatery and for overnight lodging.  There was even a landing platform high overhead where dragons could enter it from above, and a caravanserai dome for hosting caravans.


    The servants of Tanoriz Inn were abundant.  They were abnormally small, unpatterned vashael of muted colours.  They seemed to be rushing about various tasks even as the group approached the inn, and there was one scrubbing the floor in the caravanserai dome as the caravanners entered to stow their wagons.  Everything they saw seemed spotless.


    They went next to the great hall of the inn, which was famed for the cheap and excellent food served there.  There were other dragons in the inn that evening, but Enderenuskeld joined Choave¡¯s caravan at dinner in the great hall.  To Denziu¡¯s surprise Enderenuskeld ordered a small feast for himself, though zie knew that land gods have no need of food.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I could tell watching over you that something went wrong,¡± said Enderenuskeld while they were all waiting for food.  ¡°Yet it seems to have occurred before you stepped foot in my theome.  What happened?¡±


    ¡°We got attacked by bandits!¡± said Chatulerin, incensed.


    ¡°They stole from all of us,¡± said Denziu.  ¡°I lost a cask of cider.¡±


    ¡°They tried to steal my fate-charms, but I fended them off.  They stole instead an entire bin of Tekagoli luck charms!¡± said Lorvaza.


    Up to this moment, Enderenuskeld had been properly grave.  Yet at the mention of Tekagoli luck charms, his reserve cracked, and he laughed uproariously.  "Praise Baggil!" he said.  ¡°I¡¯m not of a mind to take ANY action against bandits on the border who¡¯ve just stolen Tekagoli luck charms.  Trust in Baggil''s seerage, for I know already who has just ended early the formation of a bandit group!"  Such was the response of Enderenuskeld.


    They did not bear Choave''s blessing that next day, but Choave said that Enderenuskeld would take care of it, and indeed Denziu felt remarkably refreshed from sleeping at Tanoriz Inn.  Zie felt in top form and like zie''d gained improbably well from the exercise of the days in getting to Tanoriz.  The soreness that zie¡¯d been living with was gone in their muscles.


    The caravan set out at its usual brutal fast walk with their wagons.  Denziu did manage to keep up, but zie felt the challenge which on other days had been kept away from zir awareness by Choave''s blessing.


    The roads in Tanoriz were good yet strange, for past the inn they were elevated.  They were broad roads raised up on short, stout columns with tunnels dug in the low spaces under them.  The grasses grew high in Tanoriz, and the animals scurried along even under the roads.  The good roads of Tanoriz criss-crossed the grasslands without breaking it up, an unusual road maintained by the magic of the land god.  At least, Denziu presumed it was magic work.  If there had been some work-crew through to build the elevated road, they were certainly beyond the knowledge of Denziu.  How old was the road?


    The road to Tanoriz Inn had been borne down under a grim mood that had kept Denziu from thinking of anything very bright and new, but now Denziu studied the landscape with a keen eye even as the caravanners walked along the roads pulling their wagons.  The whole of Tanoriz seemed to have a healing aura that made zir capable of facing the labour of the walk, and through the challenge of that walk zie longed... to stop and study the land they walked past.  Not to take a break (or not just to take a break) but to study the soil here and see what underlay the beautiful grassland''s vibrancy.


    ¡°These grasses grow so high,¡± Denziu said to Ekis.  ¡°The soil here must be truly excellent.¡±


    ¡°Is that a specialty of yours?¡± asked Ekis.


    Denziu grinned.  ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m called Clayseller!  I wasn¡¯t always selling pottery.  I¡¯m a good contact for vrash farmergons, because they can learn to mimic the best soils.  I built up my savings training all the farmergons in Denxalue,¡± boasted Denziu.


    ¡°Denxalue isn¡¯t known for its produce¡­¡± said Ekis sceptically.


    Denziu¡¯s brows knitted as zie stewed on that reply.  They walked on in silence for a bit.  Eventually, Denziu said, ¡°You¡¯re right.  I spoke rashly.  I earned more training many farmergons in Tekagol than all the farmergons in Denxalue.¡±


    ¡°Will you later come back here to Tanoriz to take a soil sample, then?¡± asked Ekis.


    ¡°I might.  The ability of the vrash to reform soils is a sacred gift,¡± Denziu said, marking the place in mind as somewhere to visit again in the future.


    It was a long walk, and Denziu was glad of the company of Ekis.  The wonders they saw daily were shared between them.


    Today Denziu was marvelling at Enderenuskeld''s great tracts of land, here where the land god had built the roads for even the smallest scurrying wildlife to have sanctuaries under them.


    ¡°Do you think all of this wilderness has some value to return to the dragons of Theoma?¡± asked Denziu.


    ¡°Hunting!  For us!  For other predators!  Animals graze here or hide in the grasses,¡± offered Ekis.  She looked out across the grasslands they were walking past.  ¡°Of course maybe¡­  Enderenuskeld just loves this kind of landscape.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he cares about the health of the animals?¡±  For there was surely no other reason for the elevated paths that let the scurrying animals cross under the road without nature being segmented by the passing of wagon trains.


    ¡°I think he cares for the health of all that lives!¡±  Ekis¡¯ tone could not have been brighter.  ¡°This is a lucky land!¡±


    All day long they were occasionally passed by other traffic as well.  They noticed particularly the many times they were passed by running izerah, sometimes a runner in one direction, twice as often a runner in the other, all carrying packs upon their backs.  Ekis said, ¡°This is a popular place for long travels afoot among the izerah!  We can run forever and this place heals us further with every step, so of course there are a lot of izerah who visit Tanoriz!¡±


    Ekis was easy to talk to and Denziu was glad that they¡¯d fallen in next to each other on the roster.  Nor did the other caravanners mind their chattiness; there were other conversations in other rows of the 2x6 arrangement of wagons.


    The two of them talked about the grasslands all day long.  With the mind that had learned of soil from a childhood love of mud into an adult career helping farmergons, Denziu wondered at the purpose of the grasslands that grew wild here.


    The theome might be a reservoir of a kind, zie decided; a reservoir of animal flesh.  Zie thought of all the bone and ivory for sale in Taithorkey.  To have all these grasslands here tended where there was nothing but Tanoriz Inn might be worth something to Taithorkey.  Did the herbivores of the forest eat the grass here as well?  Denziu was not a hunter or studier of animals, and didn''t know.  Yet surely even if they did not, all the small animals of Tanoriz must be keeping the predators of Taithorkey''s great forest fed, and in this land''s protection the well-fed predators of Taithorkey were such as hunters could claim.


    Zie had read that east from Taithorkey (but more saliently to Denziu who was of Nidrio, north of Nidrio) there was another of the impassable Sacred Forests called Ayadaro, where the wildlife grew to truly impressive sizes.  Ayadaro was a very dangerous place where nobody lived and only brave dragons hunted.  It might also be a reservoir of animal flesh.  All of these wilderness areas where the animals passed and made their homes more readily than could ordinary dragons, they all fed into each other to uphold the wealth of the dragons who lived in the theomes.  With Taithorkey flanked on both sides by wilderness areas that could not be developed, there was space in this region for many hunters and their prey.


    The conversation with Ekis kept Denziu occupied for all the hours it took to walk to the edge of Tanoriz, and Choave didn¡¯t push their pace that day.  At the end of the day''s journey when they stopped at the edge of the theome, it was to pull their wagons off the elevated road on a down ramp that led into a crushed up bit of field.  The permanent stone firepit in the field made it clear that it had hosted many travellers over the centuries.  They drew the wagons about the firepit in a ring and hung up tarps between them just in case there would be rain that night.  With a collective prayer to Enderenuskeld that he would bless them in spirit with another night of his gracious hospitality, they lit a bonfire in that firepit.


    The great centre of Mosdenechrak being not terribly far from the boundary of Tanoriz, the group stopped just inside the theome''s boundary to camp for the night.  They knew full well that they were stopping at the edge of the theome, for the road signs declared the edge of it.


    They stopped early.  It wasn¡¯t quite evening yet.  The city of Mosdenechrak was some half a day''s walk from this point.  In zir inexperience Denziu asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go on further?  We could reach Mosdenechrak in the morning if we kept walking on the road from here and camped farther on.¡±


    ¡°All things and all dragons are more enduring in Tanoriz than in other theomes,¡± declared Choave.  ¡°I don¡¯t want to miss a moment we can justify spending here.  Everything we have is getting farther from breaking as we spend time here.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth,¡± chimed in Kishka.  ¡°If you looked at the wagon axles before we arrived and then looked again just now, you¡¯d see they¡¯re less worn.  Enderenuskeld just goes about fixing things all the time, and he doesn¡¯t tell anyone that he¡¯s doing it.¡±


    As they cooked meals around the field¡¯s stone campfire pit, Choave surprised Denziu by singing for the group a rousing rendition of "Ode of the Ageless", a primordial hymn of praise from no particular faith sung in glory of all the land gods, who gave to all dragons that they should live forever if they could but love their safety.


    When that song had finished, Mosdrao took over, proudly displaying his purple scales and green scratch-line patterns.  This was Mosdrao who was called ''of Jiasote'', another of the freepacted merchantgons like Denziu, and he sang for the caravan "Seekers Few and Fleeting", a more obscure song that Denziu had never heard before that was a bit of a rejoinder to the more renowned "Ode to the Ageless", for Seekers was about the great power attained by the few who sought to wrest secrets from the grip of danger on Theoma.  This rarer song was a great treat to hear, but Denziu would not have known the name of the song had Mosdrao not told them what to call it as he finished it.


    When Mosdrao had stood down, there rose the vrash Omrezen, whose colours were a gleaming green-limned-in-white.  She was yet another of the freepacted merchantgons.  She sang a lively song of hunting that she clearly expected everyone to recognise, and which Denziu politely pretended to recognise though zie knew not a word of it nor what it was called.  When she was done, they stopped, for meals were done cooking.  When they had finished eating, there were more songs again, with the travelling vohntrai leading a hymn that they all knew well: "Renew Me, Oh Gloried Fate".


    In this way they spent a good fraction of the night trading songs, though Denziu and a goodly half the caravan pled ill-trained voices or poor memories for song when the group''s attention fell on them.  This singing for the group was an uncommon entertainment that they could not quite be roused to perform without hymnals in hand.

 Chapter 8: Mosdenechrak Caravanserai

    As the caravan formed up the next day, the blessing from Choave was again skipped.  Enderenuskeld had once more given them a night of fantastically rejuvenative sleep, and they were feeling wondrous as they strapped themselves to their wagons.


    Denziu did something different this morning.  Zie sought the position next to Lorvaza in the ordering of the wagons, leaving Ekis to stand next to (and talk the earfins off of) someone else for the day.  Choave noted the rearrangement in his logbook, but again did not protest.  Denziu had the sense that the wagon train¡¯s specific organisation was not usually a matter of concern.


    ¡°Lorvaza,¡± Denziu said solicitously, ¡°Your Tekagoli charms were stolen, but I still have mine.  They sell better with your collection than mine.  Would you like to sell together at Mosdenechrak?¡±


    ¡°I would.¡±  Lorvaza raised her head proudly as they walked along the road in the caravan.  ¡°I assume you¡¯re not asking me to sell your charms for free?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡±  Denziu smiled as her response was good enough to expect success.  ¡°I¡¯ll give you 35% of the revenue less the purchase cost of the charms.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.  Thank you,¡± said Lorvaza.


    ¡°No, thank you.  I¡¯m looking forward to this.  Your charms will sell better near my wagon, because those who look at this wagon in the market expect powerful enchantments for sale.¡±


    ¡°Truly?  Then I¡¯ll give you 2% of the profits from my charms while we¡¯re selling together,¡± offered Lorvaza.


    Denziu had no idea what kind of prices Lorvaza was selling at, nor what fate-charms were usually worth, so zie couldn¡¯t gauge the value of that share.  Just to be polite, zie replied, ¡°A windfall to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to hear the rest of my collection?  We only spoke of a few of them at the brunch.¡±  There was a cheer in Lorvaza¡¯s voice that suggested she very much hoped Denziu would say yes.


    So Denziu agreed, and so the whole of the way to Mosdenechrak, which was about six hours from the border with Tanoriz, Lorvaza recited the names and natures of her collection of fate-charms to Denziu.  By sheer duration this gradually overtook other conversations and became the entertainment for the nearer half of the caravan, and Oghai even fetched water for Lorvaza several times (and once a snack) that she would not lose her voice while doing it.


    The road to Mosdenechrak itself was not a distraction.  The landscape was an endless sea of plains grasses broken up only occasionally by hillocks or lonesome trees.  The grasses for their part were endless emerald green grasses which were pretty enough, although not as pretty as the exuberant grasslands of Tanoriz.  It didn¡¯t help that the sky overhead had blown in with clouds thick enough to speak of the wet climate which maintained those bright grasses.


    Lorvaza, as it turned out, had previously been running a scriptorium for an enchantment circle.  While she was copying books for the enchanters, she developed her reputation as ¡®Lorvaza the Predictable¡¯, because she preferred to take fate-charms as pay.  She didn¡¯t wear every kind of fate-charm on Theoma, but she had taken to collecting every kind of fate-charm on Theoma, and so her wagon held a catalogue¡¯s worth of different kinds of charms.  Selling off her collection was what she went on the road with Choave to accomplish.  Seven years later, that work wasn¡¯t finished.  She found it very satisfying and had even acquired more of the better sellers when opportunity permitted.


    As the recitation continued, Denziu thought much of how zie was learning of the prayers that dragons make.  The number of the charms that were prayers for self-mastery surprised Denziu, who had expected a greater predominance of the prayers for luck, and indeed the prayers for self-mastery greatly exceeded the prayers for luck in their diversity.  Every skill and vice that someone could want to gain control over had a corresponding fate-charm.


    As well, there were curious items such as the charms of Sharing, which came in a few forms, but all of which could imbue a depth of sentiment between dragons by touching gently on their Fated thoughts.  Different things could be Shared (there was even a pain-Sharing charm for healers), but on the whole Denziu got the impression that they were performers'' charms.


    There were some things that Denziu did not understand despite the attempt at differentiation, such as the difference between the charms of will and the charms of self, both of which (Lorvaza said) magnified self-similarity so that dragons may feel more truly of their own nature.  How was a charm of self different from a charm of will?  Lorvaza could not explain it, and discontentedly Denziu clamped back zir questioning without insisting, lest zie look too hard-headed to learn.


    Lorvaza, for her part, did not wear charms of self or will, but had instead balanced her own nature by wearing a carefully balanced array of charms, applied with prayer and ritual to craft her intended self before the world''s weave of Fate.  "It is no diminishment of who I am," she said proudly, "If I am the one who has decided what kind of dragon I am praying to be made."  This array of prayer charms was why Lorvaza was known as ''The Predictable'', for she had prayed to have a very great amount of Fate pressure applied to herself.  She was very pious.


    Denziu felt a little sceptical and came away with no intention to wear Fate-shifting charms upon zirself, but in the name of good business, zie kept that to zirself.  There was only one demerit to the business sense of Lorvaza''s business of buying and selling charms across the length of the trade route, which small disfluency of Lorvaza''s attitude was how many charms the good vendorgon had kept for her own attire and/or private collection.  She was clearly an enthusiast, for better or for worse.


    All during this time, the rain from the heavy clouds overhead didn¡¯t fall just yet, though it would have done no harm to the caravanners had it fallen.  It might have been welcome.  In the absence of the rain, they had a humid hothouse environment under those cloudy skies, marring their approach to Mosdenechrak.  Distant lightning spoke to the scudding rainclouds yielding up their cargo in another place, a few miles distant over the broad and nearly flat plains which dominated the landscape around Mosdenechrak.


    As they moved, the grasslands were more and more often broken up by farms, until eventually they were passing nothing but farms and the fields they had under cultivation.  At length through this the caravan came to the approach of the city itself.  It would have been poetic if there had been some final hill from which to see the spreading plains, Denziu thought, looking ahead towards the artful towers to each side of the city''s gates.


    The towers twisted away from the gate, flaring open in pure artistry to frame gates that never closed.  The gates of Mosdenechrak had no purpose but to announce the proud crossroads city with a welcome that would be visible for miles across the vibrant farmlands that ringed the city to the horizon.


    It was also apparent that the gates had been built some centuries ago, because the urban edge of Mosdenechrak spilled out past the gates.  Denziu stayed with the caravan as the roads were increasingly packed, trusting Choave to lead them to the caravanserai here as well.  The walls of the caravanserai were visible three turnings of the road before they were at the entrance, for the stone walls reared up over the smaller structures of the city.  No small investment was given to the caravans that visited Mosdenechrak, which was utterly reliant on trade to be more than a poor farm theome!


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Oghai once more signed the caravanners in as they bid farewell to their passengers, whose names Denziu had never caught.


    The caravanners crossing into the caravanserai were greeted by the sight of a festive interior with a local eatery built into the walls especially to serve merchantgons travelling overland.  There were other caravans here as well, and after Choave''s caravan settled in to test their places there wouldn¡¯t have been enough berths left to host another caravan.


    "Here!  This is a good place to break for a meal," said Choave once they were unladen for the moment, and speaking loudly over the hubbub.  With a nod to Denziu, he added, "And if I may, this is the best city to be tourists rather than merchantgons in.  The only excellent price in Mosdenechrak is the buying price for food, so don''t bother hurrying to the market."


    "Why are there so many dragons here?" asked Denziu, with a gesture across a span of the caravanserai''s interior.


    "Because of the crossroads traffic!" said Choave.  "You can hear of theomes you never knew you''d never heard of if you talk to dragons here. Go on and order a meal, try talking to someone while it''s cooking."


    The advisement was a moment of terror to Denziu.  Strike up a conversation with a stranger in an eatery?  This was different from calling out to passers-by in the market.


    After a moment, Denziu decided it wasn''t that different.  The purpose of the eatery could well be to encourage merchantgons to linger around the caravanserai and meet traders from other caravans.  Any of these merchantgons might be willing to carry off a few pots to places distant from Denxalue.


    Hardly caring about the meal, zie put in an order for a meaty handpie delivered hot, just to do as Choave had suggested.  Zie decided to sharpen zir eyes and look around to see if any of the merchantgons present looked like they were artisans or art dealers.


    There was a great deal of simple attire on display.  The occasional sight of a pewter Tekagoli amulet, though reassuring in its way, boded poorly for the prospects of finding art dealers.  Tekagol''s merchantgons were known for their humility.


    The first promising merchantgon Denziu saw was the first one finely attired, but more than the quality of attire zie was drawn to a series of five colourful ceramic bands sewn into the left-side of the breast of the merchantgon.  "Ho there," Denziu called.  "Do you trade in pottery?"


    "I do indeed," said the grey vashael, perking up when addressed.  One of her hands hovered under the ceramic bands.  "And not just any pottery," she said, "but the finest pottery from a dozen theomes.  And you?  What goods are you bearing?"


    "The finest pottery from my homeland Denxalue," said Denziu, mirroring that proud stance of the other dragon.  "Care to add a thirteenth theome?"


    "I might, and as I see you¡¯ve noticed it, I might care to sell a vest like the one I''m wearing.  This will mark you as a dealer in fine pottery from afar, just as it marked me to you!" said the vendorgon, and then with a gesture towards one of the great stone-walled corners of the caravanserai: "Once we''ve both eaten, let''s meet over there in the first bay from the corner.  That''s mine."


    Denziu''s name was called back to the counter to pick up a hot meat pie.  Such quick service!  The sturdy bread-pouch thing wasn''t burning hot, so it lasted a few bites in zir claws, a hardly noticed necessity, after which zie went to wait by the pottery-merchantgon''s bay.


    The carriage frame atop the wagon was familiar to Denziu, as was the cloth wrapping around the pots in the frame.  There were a few gaps in the carriage frame where the wrapping cloths were stored without associated pots, speaking of sold pots.  Beyond that, the pottery-merchantgon''s wagon was a complicated thing with arcs of metal under it that bewildered Denziu.  The wheels and axles were not simply attached to the carriage bed.  Denziu found the construct indescribable, and crouched down studying it.  Zie pushed on the carriage and found it had some give between its storage bed and the wheels underneath it.


    While zie was still crouched by the carriage, Denziu was approached again by the grey vashael in the colourful vest.  She didn''t seem surprised that Denziu had gotten there first, but called forward jauntily, "The meat pies here are something special, aren''t they?"


    "Well, they''re swift, for certain."


    "Which wagon is your own?" she asked, leaning over her own wagon to root around in the bed of it for something.


    "One of the two flying ones near the end of the open berths," zie said, and would have pointed were not the other merchantgon nose-down in her wagon searching.


    The grey vashael came up clutching a vest then, and said, "Flying?  Truly?  You have a flying wagon?  Why did you make such an expensive investment?"  She stepped over to Denziu holding out the vest as though offering to put it onto Denziu immediately; it was a white leather vest that Denziu thought was very ''harmless'' against zir beige scales.  The five ceramic plates sewn into the left side of the vest were in various colours and patterns, like and yet different from the ones that the grey vashael wore.  Denziu let her put it on zir body.


    "Oh, the wagon was not an investment, it was a gift from my mother, the land god Praoziu," Denziu said, and was about to ask ''how much for the vest'' when the other merchantgon interrupted with shock:


    "Praoziu of Nidrio?!  How did anyone survive her long enough to woo her?"


    For Denziu had forgotten that zir mother Praoziu was known afar as a killer of visitors.  Geomancers considered her a hostile land god.  Denziu knew this, and yet had forgotten it quite profoundly, as zie had rarely had cause to think of it in childhood or adulthood, nor in the decades since as Praoziu¡¯s reformation seemed sincere.  Still, this fact of her history produced the shock of the merchantgon and reminded Denziu of what zie had forgotten.


    "Y-y-yes," stammered Denziu.  "S-she''s not, not really a, she doesn''t kill travellers anymore." Denziu dropped zir head in shame.


    The grey merchantgon dragon frowned at Denziu.  "You''re not lucky enough to have met a wannabe-geomancer, or I''d heap the vest on you as a gift in hopes of having you praise me to your mother to bolster my Fate.  I''ll want one of your pots for this."


    Denziu raised zir head sharply.  "No, not just for this.  These pots are a special good worth more than a vest each," said Denziu, zir feelings of dejection about zir parentage fading quickly as zie was on the spot to make a deal.  "You may say it''ll pay off when I''m selling the others, but I''ll only give you a discount for the vest."


    "I may still take that.  If anyone asks where you got the vest, tell them you got it from Zwerenn of Sulftiss."


    After examining all eight pots, Zwerenn bought the floral-painted pot from Denziu''s collection, though Denziu was not entirely sure of its value when Zwerenn was done haggling.  For amidst their discussion of pottery, which had been entirely amicable and not at all like butting heads about prices (and perhaps Denziu got a bit carried away in conversation, and lost something of the price thereby), Denziu got argued down from a stellar price to one that was merely considerable.


    Despite the distraction, and indeed with a few sentences added about pottery quoted from Zwerenn, Denziu recorded the event of the sale with zir lev-i-quill, so that zie could bring back the price to the artist who painted the pot that Zwerenn bought.  It was still far better than the price the pot had fetched in Denxalue.


    Zie forgot entirely to ask about Sulftiss, though zie had the vague sense that it was a theome somewhere off to the east of Mosdenechrak, somewhere on the other side of the south-central forest of Tachamund whose western edge they were presently near.  And Zwerenn, for her part, praised the little pewter bits with the names and months-of-creation for each pot struck into them, saying that she was impressed with Denziu''s dedication to artistic display.


    "Of course I''m dedicated," said Denziu as they parted, "I know these artists, and they¡¯ve been getting ripped off for ages."


    So Zwerenn went away looking nervously embarrassed, and Denziu thought that if they ever traded pottery again zie would get a better price that time.  Zie was nevertheless excited to have sold off even one pot.


    Zie held zir dignity while Zwerenn departed, but bubbled over once zie thought the more experienced merchantgon was out of earshot.  ¡°I sold one!¡± Denziu nearly shouted at zir wagon, hopping about from one foot to another with zir tail swinging about.  ¡°I sold it at the price of fine art!  This venture will work!¡±


    Denziu went out to a restaurant to celebrate and challenged the kitchen by ordering four rich appetisers rather than an entree, an expensive way to eat even in a theome known for its cheap food prices.  While grazing over this abundance of food zie dashed out letters to friends and family back home declaring that zie¡¯d sold a piece of Denxalue stoneware at an amazing price.  Paper, ink, and postage being themselves expensive, sending all these letters would drain a further sum, but it was worth it to help spread the word that Denxalue¡¯s best pottergons WERE being ripped off.  Zwerenn had proved it!

 Chapter 9: Mosdenechrak Temple District

    That restaurant visit had been a good start towards Choave¡¯s recommendation to give a day over to being a tourist rather than trying to be a merchantgon in the competitive markets of Mosdenechrak, but Denziu eventually left it feeling overfull.  Wanting a quieter place and feeling self-conscious about the expense of letter-writing, after visiting the local post office Denziu decided to visit the local Temple of Uttermost Dark.


    Zie knew it would be a grim and dreary place, quite deliberately, as they worshipped darkness and silence.  Each Temple of Uttermost Dark housed a sacred labyrinth at its centre, where were provided places for meditation and prayer.  It was said to be a very healthy thing to meditate at a Temple of Uttermost Dark.


    These temples were very unusual places to go as a tourist, but Denziu had visited the (crumbling and swamp-sunken) Temple of Uttermost Dark in Denxalue, and was curious about the equivalent here, as zie had read that it was a very large place.


    Indeed, what greeted zir (visible from blocks away, and dominating several city blocks that were obligingly themed dark) was something like a ziggurat that mounted up in great winedark stone over the whole of the local city.  Said city did not cease to be a commercial affair at all, but became full of markets selling such things as dark cloth and fate-charms "for contemplation".  Denziu browsed them this time, considering whether zie could sell Tekagoli luck charms here.  Zie did not quite know Lorvaza well enough to justify purchasing gifts, though the thought occurred to zir.  None of these fate-charms would be uniquely new to Lorvaza¡¯s collection, as zie recently had cause to know.


    Whether they sold sacred goods or not, the vendorgons here were quieter in word and attire.  They murmured and beckoned rather than crying their goods.  It was as though shouting were illegal here.  There were charms of silencing cloth on display as well, with gold-gleaming thread in blessed patterns through the round cylinders of black cloth bolts.  Denziu saw at one point a merchantgon took pay from someone in such a bolt of cloth.


    Zie visited a silent food merchantgon with a signboard declaring that customers should order by pointing, and there zie bought a bowl of hard bread with some cubed fish partially filling it.  The fish was good.  The breadbowl was aptly summarised as not too hard for a dragon''s jaws to rip through.


    Denziu passed onwards, gnawing on bread, through the flooding crowd of shushed dragons wearing dark cloth.  As zie approached the ziggurat zirself, zie felt like zie was glaring bright in the sunlight, zir beige scales having never been such a burning sacrilege compared to all the dark-swathed others.  They weren''t all wearing black, but they wore greens and blues and purples; most of all however, they wore dark colours, and in each shade they were off-black.  Denziu''s own beige was like a shock white by comparison.


    Yet none rebuked zir.  This darkness was custom, not regulation.  Still, it was terribly different from how the much smaller Temple of Uttermost Dark worked in Denxalue.  Despite zir light colours, zie proceeded to climb the ziggurat itself.  It ascended in three layers of platforms and had doors into its interior at every level.  Upon the first level the crowds continued, and Denziu saw many dragons pass through into the interior.  When zie asked one who had a priestly guise where services were held, zie was told that the sacred labyrinth was accessible to the public through the doors in the first platform level, but the sermon courtyard was achieved by ascending to the second platform, then passing through to the centre of the ziggurat.  The third platform was only for the priesthood.


    The second platform ascended above the crowds, but still no barred door or other warning sign blocked zir, so Denziu continued to the second platform and entered in under an arch to a courtyard lofted up from the ground here in the second platform.  Zie saw looking up that the third layer of the courtyard had four pulpit platforms reaching up from the ziggurat, one per side of the four-sided structure, and here on the second there was a great open space for attending sermons.  There being no sermon presently performed in the courtyard, this was currently empty (rather than full of shushed dragons in dark cloth), so that it gave a sense of vastness in the light.


    Satisfied, Denziu climbed back down to the first level platform of the ziggurat, and went into the sacred labyrinth.  The famed silence of the Uttermost Dark temples closed around zir as zie went into the dim-lit interior, although here where the faithful crowded so much the silence was at first imperfect.  Enchanted light fixtures here provided light without noisome elements such as smoke or sound, but they did not provide much light.


    The first meditation niches were not deserted.  Undeterred, Denziu continued into the sacred labyrinth.  This occupied the bulk of the ziggurat''s interior, and Denziu was surprised to see there were even internal stairways, splitting the path both downwards and upwards.  The farther zie went to the centre of the labyrinth, the more intense the silence around zirself, and the dimmer were the light fixtures.  Eventually, zie had gone far enough to escape the crowd, and continued no farther (so as to avoid meeting dragons who insist on going in until there is no farther in to go), but occupied for some time the next meditation niche zie found vacant, where the darkness and silence closed about zir entirely.


    There was nothing to the Uttermost Dark.


    One must simply be capable of loving darkness and silence to understand them.


    The rumours of healing potencies to meditations within their temples had not been proven.


    Denziu came out some unknown time later, and departing through the sacred labyrinth was treated to the slowly restored crowds and gradually increasing lights, until zie stepped free onto that first ziggurat level once again.  Even here where the Uttermost Dark had secured influence over several city blocks and the dragons thronging did so in faithful attire, the difference between inside and outside was intense, so that Denziu understood at a moment why the largest Temple of Uttermost Dark zie had ever been in was surrounded by so much city of faith: they were lessening that shock of inside and outside.


    The hushed city blocks could not help being louder than the hushed temple interior, the darkened city blocks could not help being brighter than the darkened temple interior, and yet the shock of stepping outside was reduced.  The dark quarter was beautiful when its hidden vibrance could be appreciated.


    Indeed, it was awesome how much brighter and more vibrant the world seemed, and Denziu drank in the dark palettes of the clothes of the faithful.  Their dark hues stood out better now.  Zie was tempted to shop for attire of silencing cloth, but...  It was expensive, and Denziu reflected that zie did not truly need it.  Nobody had confronted zir on the way in, nor did anyone confront zir on the way out.  Denxalue''s Temple of Uttermost Dark was just large enough to contain its central labyrinth, and this one was an extravagance of a city of merchantgons where the locals had a great deal of time and energy over what it cost them to wrest their bountiful harvests from the earth.


    Zie would, zie thought, set aside the funds to dress faithfully if ever zie moved to Mosdenechrak.  Or perhaps if zie was someday fabulously wealthy, and could afford to have attire for every location... but that was a strange thought.  It would be against the virtues that Baggil taught in Tekagol, chiefly persistence.  Having an outfit only for use in Mosdenechrak would be doing something and then not persisting in it.


    That didn¡¯t stop Denziu from journaling the thought with zir lev-i-quill.  Zie wanted that attire someday.  Zie also now recognised Honom¡¯s dark and gold-lettered clothing as silencing cloth.  He was ¡®Honom of Mosdenechrak¡¯, one of the quietest members of the caravan, and Denziu now knew he was from the dark district of Mosdenechrak.


    That evening at the caravanserai, two things happened.  Firstly, Choave took an inventory of open carriage potential, planning to fill the wagons with food from Mosdenechrak the next day.  Secondly, Denziu spoke to Lorvaza about seeing fate-charms for sale in the dark district, and suggested that they set up Denziu''s wagon in the dark district and try to sell her charms to the faithful of Uttermost Dark as well.


    It was not a difficult conversation.   They were soon agreed that it would be a good first test of the two using Denziu''s wagon to make their goods seem more magical.  Lorvaza transferred a treasure chest of jewellery to Denziu''s wagon, and Denziu felt a little faint at just carrying it.  Too much magic¡­  Denziu understood now why Lorvaza had offered only 2%.


    Mosdenechrak was all over with markets.  It was a great crossroads city, proud to be on two different trade corridors.  Here was where the north-south Tachanigh-Kelkaith trade corridor met the east-west Pan-Tachamund trade corridor.  The city was a celebration of trade crossing to distant lands.  It was also a place of great leisure, where the farms of its rich grasslands had driven down the prices of daily necessities so greatly that there were theatre halls, arenas, and gymnasia.


    Denziu thought about this while pulling zir flying wagon along towards the dark district.  There were murals on many of the walls, which gradually darkened in palette as they approached the dark district.  There was leisure here in which artistic skills were developed.  Denziu felt rather hopeful seeing that; it meant that zir paints might sell today.


    For a moment, Denziu called to Lorvaza to stop at one of them.  It was a public service mural telling the public about the importance of saving carefully between major purchases.  "I''ve never seen an exhortation like this," Denziu said.


    "Mosdenechrak is a well-organised city," said Lorvaza.  "They''re telling residents something important.  You can get anything you need in the markets here, but reckless spenders can''t afford the prices."


    After a moment of further examination, Denziu said, "Let''s continue," and then added, "Do you think the city government commissions the other murals, too?"


    "They might, or local businesses might.  Mosdenechrak is quite patriotic, and it''s a way to be public-spirited," Lorvaza said, and Denziu wondered if any of the other murals were tasteful advertising.  Zie wasn''t used to being surrounded by iconography like this.


    When they were in the dark district itself, the murals largely gave way to simple dark painted walls with occasional leavening from white-, silver-, or gold-painted calligraphic lettering that proceeded vertically or horizontally across the walls.  This seemed to be the fashion of Uttermost Dark in Mosdenechrak, strengthened by the gold-lettered black cloth that was like a local currency for the silence-shrouding enchantment it bore.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Since Lorvaza and Denziu didn''t have the appropriate attire, they searched the edges of the dark district rather than sticking out sorely in the centre.  Eventually, they found a clear space large enough for Denziu to set up zir wagon, and Lorvaza busily arranged her charms for display.


    Denziu unwrapped a few of the pots in the wagon to show them off, just in case someone took an interest in the artfully painted pottery.


    Despite the levitating wagon behind them, the two dragons had some difficulty drawing attention.  Without being able to cry their goods, it was a great contest of body language to try to hook dragons in, and the great majority of dragons broke away to continue on their way.  When they lured someone, Denziu mostly let Lorvaza do the talking, and so heard still more of the fate-charms, once more presented as "for contemplation".


    After hearing one of these pitches presented successfully, zie asked, "Why do you say that the fate-charms here are ''for contemplation''?  That is the same pitch the local charm sellers tried on me yesterday."


    "Oh, well!  It''s a natural way to use them," said Lorvasa, smiling brightly.  "Have you never taken a fate-charm into the labyrinth of an Uttermost Dark temple?"


    "I have not," said Denziu.


    "There in the darkness and the silence, many dragons contemplate the values represented by one or another of the mystic charms.  It''s a form of prayer that realigns an individual''s Fate," Lorvasa said, and then she turned around to look through her displayed charms for a moment.  She came up with a cornucopia of arsenical bronze upon a twine strap, and held this out to Denziu saying, "This is a farmergon''s fortune charm.  It¡¯s sold on a farmergon¡¯s budget, so it¡¯s one of my cheaper charms.  If you were to take this into a temple of Uttermost Dark and think about the farmergons you work with outside of the caravan, it should be worth good fortune to them."


    "Oh!  Like putting a shrine to one of them in my pantheon room," said Denziu.


    Lorvaza nodded and said, "Yes, and much cheaper than that.  Although less permanent, if you do it often, it''ll be quite good for them.  Here, I''ll give it to you at a 20% discount, or you can have this one free if you forswear your share from today''s sales."


    Denziu frowned at that offer, but thought it seemed friendly to accept, and so acquired a second charm to wear.  The bronze cornucopia was fitted to a pocket on the right side in the pottery-vendorgon vest that zie was wearing, so that on the left breast there were the five ceramic bands, and on the right breast there was a cornucopia of arsenical bronze.  "Do you think it''ll distort my own Fate to wear a farmergon''s fortune charm?"


    "No, or not really," said Lorvaza.  "Only in that other dragons will think you''re a farmergon when you''re not a merchantgon, and that''s no great cost.  The land gods will not make that error, especially not after you''ve taken it into a dark temple for prayer."


    They sold more charms after that, so that it seemed (rather painfully) to Denziu that zie had probably made a mistake by taking the charm ''for free'' rather than at discount.


    Eventually, a passing izerah asked about the pots on the wagon.  They surprised Denziu by being most interested in the grotesque pot featuring Lauvera incarnate, and they offered a very good price that seemed nevertheless rather low to Denziu, who knew it as a very good price only relative to the price of less artful pottery.  That price became an excellent price when Denziu produced the little pewter marks for each of the displayed pots and spoke about the work zie''d gone to in collecting pots for years to sell the finest artwork produced in Denxalue.  Recognizing a successful haggle and not wanting to push zir luck, Denziu accepted this second price, and was soon gladly done with another pot, sold from zir collection to the market of Mosdenechrak.


    There was but one catch to the deal: the izerah who bought the great storage pot and carried it off could only make the price ¡°excellent¡± by offering four bolts of silencing cloth from local markets.  Denziu nonetheless recorded with zir lev-i-quill the price in coin and magic cloth that zie had gotten for the pottery, to be ready for showing it off to a pottergon in Denxalue used to selling to derisive merchantgons.


    "Next time I do this, I should enchant the pottery!" exclaimed Denziu to Lorvaza when the pot had both been carried off.


    Lorvaza tilted her head a bit and said, "But aren''t enchantments usually pragmatic in some way?  What would enchanted art-pottery do?"


    "I''m not sure, but I''m sure there must be something.  Maybe a room-wide enchantment of some kind," said Denziu.  "An artful pot is a good place to put a ceramic tile with a permanent enchantment."


    Thinking about the question of how to enchant a pot to sell better while the two tried to draw their next customer, Denziu hadn''t long to think before zir mind turned to imagining the snow-covered landscape that zie''d read dominated in Hydalath, far to the north.  "A warming enchantment," zie said.  "Something that keeps the room warm.  Oh, it''d be perfect for a fiery-painted pot, but I could get a better price for any of them if they were sold with a warming enchantment."


    Lorvaza laughed at that, just a short ''hah!'', and then said, "Aren''t you getting ahead of yourself?  I''m not saying that''s a bad good to trade, but why bundle them?  Maybe you should go search the markets in Mosdenechrak to see if anyone is selling ceramic warming spells and just sell them at markets along the way.  Go on; I''ll keep your wagon safe."


    "Will you sell any more of my pots?" said Denziu, who didn''t know as zie asked whether zie wanted to hear a ''yes'' or a ''no''.


    "I heard the price you extracted from that izerah.  How about this," said Lorvaza, "I''ll sell a pot if I can get at least seven bolts of silencing cloth in exchange.  That should be profitable.  Oh, but get a necromantic box while you''re out!  Your warming spells may disenchant between theomes if you don''t box them right!"


    Thus did Denziu agree to let Lorvaza sell zir pottery while zie went searching Mosdenechrak''s markets for ceramic warming spells.


    Now, Denziu had some idea what a "ceramic warming spell" should look like.  It should look like a small rectangular or nearly rectangular (half-rounded) ceramic plate with some manner of lettering glazed onto it.  That was a fairly common way for spellworks to be sold anywhere in Theoma, as far as Denziu was concerned.  Curses were sold on special brittle plates so that they could be broken, while benevolent charms were sold on hardened plates to avoid breakage.  (One might think that curses would be as hard as possible so that their target would be more stuck with them, but the land gods were prone to ill-regarding curses and distorting Fate to hurt their wielders, and so curses survived better in attempts to afflict targets if they could be broken dramatically upon discovery.)  A warming spell would be a benevolent enchantment, so it would be a good stout little piece of ceramic.


    It should be possible to tell even just passing a vendorgon if they had warming spells for sale, because a bin full of warming spells would warm the entire street.  Finding them thus required no attention to anything save the warmth of the air, which was an interesting task for a vashael.  As Denziu was, though zie had been so ground-bound during this expedition that zie had almost forgotten the little wind that swirled around zirself.  If at any point in crossing the city zie felt an unexpected warmth or chill, zie would ask nearby merchantgons if they sold temperature-modifying tiles.  It was nearer summer than winter, so zie expected cold air rather than warm.


    A necromantic box was a much stranger thing to Denziu, who had never dealt with necromantic anything before meeting Choave.  Zie decided to take Lorvaza at her word, and find the necromantic box first, and so zie flagged down passers-by to ask the way to the local Querent-Querent library.  That seemed like the best place to ask about a good supposedly essential to trade, and an excellent place to learn where in Mosdenechrak such a thing could be acquired.  It turned out to be nearby, just past the edge of the dark district, and quite a large building.


    As zie entered the great stone-walled library, festive with great metal trees adorning its street-facing walls, aglow with pink metal flowers blooming from their branches, zie was struck again by the wealth of Mosdenechrak.  There were so many minor shows of fortune here.  This city was good to artists.


    The mood indoors was much more dour than the frontage of the building, but the librarian at the counter brightened up immediately when Denziu said, "Hey, I''m a merchantgon seeking information on trade.  May I ask you questions about your collection?"


    "You''re a merchantgon!" gasped the librarian.  "And I''m a geomancer who needs to file ''how have you helped trade or travel'' documents in a city where nobody travels ever.  Please, ask me anything!  Not just about our collection.  Ask me things directly."


    So Denziu asked about necromantic boxes, and was told to check shops near the necromantic academy in Mosdenechrak, which advice came with street-by-street directions.  Zie asked about warming spells as well, and got an apologetic, "Sorry, I don''t know about that."


    The streets near the necromantic academy looked remarkably, even self-consciously ordinary.  There were bright-painted facades on the buildings, with creative and colourful motifs that even looked a bit garish, and there was no sign of death-theming in any way whatsoever.


    When Denziu looked in a few of the shops, zie eventually found one whose signboard outside held a picture of a jewellery box, and when zie stepped through zie found that it was just full of boxes.  Floor to ceiling the shelves were covered in ornate boxes!  This must be the place.


    And it was!  The proprietor behind the counter was a halfway transparent red vohntrai, who emphasised that Denziu should tell her exactly what kind of object was to be transported via necromantic box.  When Denziu said that zie wanted to export warming enchantments to the northern theomes, zie was offered a fiery-painted box full of padded slots for warming spelltiles.  It was two layers tall, with a removable top layer to get to the bottom.  Zie was told to pray regularly over it for the land gods to protect the enchantments being shipped.  "Never lie!" warned the proprietor of the box shop.  "This box is for warming spells only!"


    Somewhat mystified, Denziu bought the box and set out to return to Lorvaza by a different route to maximise the odds of finding somewhere selling warming charms.  Zie walked somewhat self-consciously with the expensive box in hand, and had no luck finding anywhere with a bin of warming charms, as zie''d imagined zie could find somewhere in a place where the markets famously held everything.


    Lorvaza saw the box and cheered for Denziu, only to stop when Denziu''s expression fell to the cheer.  "No luck?" she asked.  Denziu shook zir head, and stashed the box in zir wagon.


    "How about you?" Denziu asked.


    Lorvaza shook her head, gesturing at the wagon with seven pots and seven bolts of silencing cloth in it.  All was as Denziu left it, in other words.


    "Oh!" said Denziu.  "Well, I''m not surprised.  These are difficult goods."


    "There was one point where I thought I''d lured someone rich to look at your pottery, and I confess I bid high.  She walked away in shock!" said Lorvaza.


    Denziu reached into the wagon and fingered the black cloth from one of the seven bolts.  "Tell me, do you think I should trade these for silencing clothes?"


    "No, I don''t," said Lorvaza.  "Hold onto them.  Where a good is a local currency, it¡¯s a distant exoticism.  You can count on that.  I''d say keep them at least until Xeladash, where the next major market will bolster their value.  Orrr you might want to hold them until Jiasote, where dragons are a bit crazy and will love having something they can insulate a wall with.  Public service if you do that, really." She smiled at that last bit.


    "I think I will!" said Denziu, excitedly.  "Baggil will protect me better if I hold onto the silencing cloth until I''m sure it''s good for other dragons that I sell it."


    "Now, you should go back to searching for warming charms.  Really, you should be able to find them somewhere in Mosdenechrak.  Let me do our sales for the rest of the day, and come back to the caravanserai in the evening."


    So Denziu continued trekking across every street market and every signboarded street zie could find, until eventually zie found a street where a shop-tent glowed with strange glooming enchantments.  The air as zie approached it was hot and sleepy, and zie knew zie''d found a likely place.  The price for the spells was a bit eyewatering, so that Denziu had to trek back to Lorvaza and ask a loan to cover it, but Denziu did negotiate a bulk discount on something the other merchantgon had expected to sell far more slowly.  The two merchantgons were sure that the sale of the warming spelltiles would be a profitable thing to sell individually across the northern theomes.  Lorvaza said that the loan was no more and no less than her claiming a share of the profits from the warming spells!


    In this way, Denziu became a little more of a magic vendorgon to match zir flying wagon, and as zie packed away hot little pieces of ceramic into the padded slots of the fiery-painted necromantic box, zie wondered if zir Fate was being pulled by zir wagon itself.

 Chapter 10: Inaildoro

    The caravan set out at dawn after a departing meal together at the caravanserai''s eatery.  They were headed due north of Mosdenechrak, carrying their cargo of cider into the mystic theome of Inaildoro.


    The rest of the caravan took the news of their route without comment, but Denziu had already never been this far from home before.  Inaildoro was a place that zie''d read about as a hazard.  It was one of the theomes that put the mist in mystic, supposedly; banks of clouds blew across the plains north of Mosdenechrak without source or destination, and mistwraith monsters lurked in them.  With these things in mind, Denziu asked, "Should we really travel through Inaildoro?"


    "But of course!  It''s one of the few things that really goes better for a Tekagoli caravan, and I do it every time!" said Choave.  "And we¡¯ll visit Danundseer after.  Danundseer isn''t even on the west route that evades Inaildoro, so we''ll fill our loose space with a few crates of mushrooms and be one of the few caravans going north with that."


    "Don''t worry,¡± Oghai said, all smiles like he was sharing a good jest.  ¡°Inaildoro is trivial.  Open roads and no obstructions.  Even odds we''ll cross a hamlet, want to lay a bet?"


    "How can that be uncertain?" asked Denziu, mystified at the idea that the caravan could be unsure of whether it would cross a hamlet on a route they always took.


    Oghai laughed and said, "Because it''s a mystic theome.  You only see what the land god Inadagedyn decides you ought to see.  Infinitely big-" Oghai held his arms apart, "infinitely small-" Oghai put his hands together, "totally unmappable.  Takes exactly as long to cross as Inadagedyn decides, but we trust him on that.  We¡¯ll be there for one night and part of the next day."


    They departed Mosdenechrak again without Choave''s blessing, and Denziu had the sense that all the days without it since Tanoriz were good for the health of the caravanners.  They didn¡¯t need the vigour charm.  There was no point straining to cross a mystic theome faster than a comfortable walk.


    As the group departed Mosdenechrak, they left by the north gate, and crossed into yet more emerald farmland.  This place looked vibrant, like it''d never had a drought, nor a depletion of the soil.  Denziu wondered who was working zir own job in these lands, teaching the vrash how to perfect the soil in the farms.  Perhaps the local equivalent was a vrash with that magic touch, eschewing the direct farming to sell perfect soil conditions to vashael who could work the land better.  Or perhaps the land god Akilno, who adored the prosperous city, was prone to blessing the farmland directly... but Denziu doubted that.  The lesser divinities were on their own in most theomes if they ruined the soil that they tried to farm.


    Here along the road north from Mosdenechrak, there were plenty of travellers upon the road, most of them bullied aside by the formation of the caravan, though at one point when a southbound caravan met them both caravans pulled into long strings to pass each other.


    When they approached Inaildoro, the edge of the theome was disconcertingly visible.  A mistbank was bunched up on the edge of the theome, looming like a strangely linear wall of grey over the plains.  This was something that was spoken of more often than seen: a weather event with a defined border.  The mists of Inaildoro were never seen in Mosdenechrak.


    "ALL STOP!  Gather to me," shouted Choave.  The whole caravan rolled to a stop, and Choave unhitched from his own wagon to turn and face the group.  He stood tall as he said loudly, "Instructions for Inaildoro!  When the air is clear, be at ease!  When the fog is about us, keep an eye on the next wagon ahead of your own and the wagon next to yours!  If we''re together, we''ll be safe, so stay near each other.  Pray to Baggil and we''ll be safe!"


    With that, Choave rehitched himself, and the group walked into the thick fogbank.


    It was an unnaturally thick fog that they walked into.  It was too dry for its density, which readily blocked the front of the caravan from the back, so that it felt more like walking through haze, but unlike a true haze it was easy on the lungs.  The air tasted very clean, in fact.  The fog was wholly immaterial, not formed of mist like a fog nor of dust like a haze, but formed solely of the substance of the will of the land god.


    The fog or haze was too durable for the distance that they crossed and the time that they spent crossing it, so that hours passed while Denziu was simply putting one foot in front of another.  Every so often as they walked, Denziu saw a streak of motion in the fog, a sort of roiling distortion at the edge of visibility off to the side.  They were still passing some kind of soundless, dim grassland all the while...


    Oghai broke up the tension and the tedium by walking up and down the caravan checking in with everyone periodically.  One of these visits was particularly fun, as Choave called a brief stop while Oghai broke open a cache of meaty handpies to distribute for the group to have lunch on the road.  After that, it was back to walking.


    Oghai stayed near Denziu and asked, "How are you holding up?"


    "Are we really going to see two days of this?  This endless haze?" Denziu asked.


    Oghai shook his head and said, "Probably not.  We''re lucky we haven''t been attacked yet, actually.  This much haze usually means that Inadagedyn has taken a direct interest in a travelling crew."


    Denziu shrunk, and for a step fell behind the caravan''s pace, then with a grim-set jaw picked up the pace again.  "What kind of attack?"


    "Weird things, like deformed dragons and ghosts," said Oghai.  "Some of it¡¯s talkative, but Inadagedyn will try to break up the caravan before individualising things.  Our Tekagoli charms protect us here, and from anything except getting separated, so usually we make the journey safe just by refusing to lose sight of each other.  Just...  don''t listen to anything that wants you to leave the line."


    There was no such thing that day.


    It wasn''t long after that when the fog did finally clear, and they saw that they were walking through a wide grassland in the evening.  There was some hillocking to the landscape and occasional trees, but most notably there were more of the distant banks of roving fog, vaporous and loose-edged here where they were far from the edge of the theome.  Ahead of them, another one looked to have rolled over the road again.


    "We''ll be camping in fog at this rate," bellowed Choave, with some frustration powering his voice across the caravan''s length.


    "We can''t get lucky every time we visit!" called back another of the merchantgons in the caravan.  That was Sharisen the Sociable, who rarely spoke and startled several of the merchantgons by responding to Choave from the back row of the caravan where she was pulling Oghai''s carriage that day.


    Lorvaza cried, "Since when do Tekagoli merchantgons get lucky at all?"  Which yielded laughs, and broke the tension.


    Denziu watched after Oghai until the running izerah noticed and came back.  "What were they talking about?" Denziu asked.


    "We''ve had a run of good luck the last few years while passing this theome,¡± answered Oghai, walking alongside Denziu to speak.  ¡°Clear weather in Inaildoro and getting to stay at the inns in the villages overnight.  No sleeping in the open.  No monsters to deal with.¡±


    After the caravan entered the fogbank, they soon found that they were walking through what looked to be a lightly wooded area... in as much as they could see anything, with the sun setting and the trees about them.  Soon after, Choave called a stop, and the caravanners gathered right on the road.  "There''s no point pulling off the road," Choave said.  "There''s no traffic in Inaildoro unless Inadagedyn wants us to meet someone."


    It was a dreary night.  The "campsite" they were at was far too crowded with the trees hedging them in and all the wagons pulled around one spot on the road where the fire burned, and all of them afraid to step foot into the fog that surrounded them.


    There wasn''t enough room about them to have privacy, so that when it happened that Choave started talking to someone or something in the fog, there was nearly a full alarm from all the dragons rousing to say, "What was that?" and "What did you say?"


    A feminine draconic voice cleared her throat.  "Ahem!  I''m peaceful, but please don''t make me step into the firelight.  You wouldn''t want me to."


    "We''ve a visitor from the fog," said Choave.  "Wants to speak to Denziu."


    The unknown dragon said, "I swear to Baggil I''ll let zir return safely to you by the morrow, but Inadagedyn wishes to have Denziu''s measure on a question of importance."


    Denziu walked over towards the pair.  The known and the unknown, Choave at the edge of the firelight, and the unknown dragon in the fog.


    "You shouldn''t do this," said Choave, "But that oath is valid if you do."


    Denziu was wearing a Tekagoli charm.  Zie trusted that Baggil would never let an unsurvivable consequence be inflicted.    So it was that heeding Choave not, Denziu addressed the dragon in the fog.  "Do you have a name?"


    "Taioma."


    Following after Taioma was a strange experience.  There arose a kind of sourceless insufficient light as the two stepped away from the caravan.  Taioma let Denziu see a glimpse of her tail, of her two tails Denziu noticed with surprise, and otherwise stayed shrouded by the fog.  As though concealing the broader facts of her appearance, Denziu thought, harking back to Oghai''s warning of deformed dragons in the mists of Inaildoro.


    Soon Taioma''s tails curled around the edge of a table.  It was set up in the ''forest'', a little of which Denziu could see by that odd dusking light that had continued growing stronger as they moved.  There were six plates upon the table, and four cookies on each plate.  There was a seventh plate in the centre of the table, larger than the rest yet with nothing on it at all.  All of this stood in a forest with nothing else nearby.  "Why is this here?" Denziu asked, questioning the oddity of a table set up in the forest.


    "By the blessing of Inadagedyn, these are for you," said Taioma.  "However much or little you please to eat, and if you will try at least something, I will have a question for you."


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The grey unshadowed light, the wisping fog, the shrouded dragon who stood by the table...  Denziu could tell now that she was staring at him, could see the hints of a draconic form through the ever-present fog.


    Where the haze of the day had been dry, this fog was not.  It was unpleasant, cold, and damp.  Still the air tasted very clean.  There was no fungal taste as a wet night in a forest might be expected to provoke.  With such a clean air, and as much walking as the caravan had done, being on foot all day...  It was not unthinkable to eat something, under the blessing of the land god.


    It was hard to see much about the cookies on the table.  The light was of a weak grey quality that rendered all colours weak and grey, as attains in the pre-dawn, which it now seemed they were surrounded by.  "Are these all the same?" Denziu asked.


    "They are of various flavours, but they are not otherwise distinct."


    Denziu hesitated over the table.


    Taioma said, "Please, just eat one.  Even half of one."


    One of the cookies departed the table and was torn in half.  This was an interesting exercise, for the cookie tore quite easily.  It was a soft, dense cookie, with a moistness to it, not at all baked hard as other cookies that Denziu had before.  Zie pulled a piece from the half a cookie, and popped it into zir mouth.  Lemon.  It was a heavy lemon cookie.


    Zie ate the rest of the half, and looked to Taioma, looming shrouded in the fog.


    "Why do we toil?" she asked.


    The question was a surprise.  A pure and simple non sequitur, Denziu had no idea how to reply to it, but stood waiting for Taioma to go on.


    When she did, her words were, "Why do we work for our food?"


    "To eat it," Denziu said.  "We would starve without working to secure it."


    Taioma reached over the table, and Denziu''s stomach turned to see a limb depart that shrouding mist, a living dragon''s hand yet bare meat exposed.  Taioma picked up a cookie with one hand, stabbing it with her claws as she pulled it in two.  She came away with just the half.


    She ate half a cookie, as Denziu had.


    "What do you know of starvation?" Taioma asked.  "The ground yields up its produce so easily in our world.  Do you know the word for mass starvation?"  She did not wait for an answer.  "It is ''famine'', Denziu.  There have been no famines in this region."


    A moment of silence.


    Taioma added, "You should have another cookie.  I''m still hungry."


    Denziu took a step around the table, and Taioma likewise circled it, keeping the table between them.  The shroud of mist followed the other dragon, but Denziu still felt her eyes boring into zir.


    Another cookie, torn in half.  Strawberry, this time.  These were such dense, moist cookies...  and this one was strawberry flavoured.


    "Who baked these cookies?" asked Taioma.


    "You did," Denziu said, taking a guess.


    Taioma shook her head slowly.  "No, I did not.  I do not know the recipe for these.  Nor could I carry them through the night''s sodding damp without ruining them.  Want to guess again?"


    There was nobody else here.  Thinking about how readily Praoziu had summoned power unknown to enlarge zir wagon, Denziu could think of one other dragon who could have ''baked'' the cookies.  "Inadagedyn," zie said.  "They were provided by the land god''s blessing."


    Taioma reached across the table, again leaning out of the shrouding swirl of mist, this time reaching with both hands to grab one of the cookies and rip it in half.  The skin had rotted off her limbs; her claws were too bare an ivory, as though a glimpse of bone showed through on the hand Denziu had only just seen.  She took another half a cookie.


    "Everything is provided by the land god''s blessing, Denziu.  Even our toils.  So why do we toil?"


    A difficult moment of silence.  Denziu understood the question this time, and tried to answer it in zir head first.  If the land gods could give me anything...  Is life better somehow for my toils?


    I have not been given too many things, zie thought.  Only the flying wagon, which made it possible to carry bags of soil from one place to another, and so had Denziu flying regularly between different parts of the forests and swamps in zir homeland.


    The vrash farmergons with whom zie worked, they were gifted the ability to change the soil... it made the work of farming more reliable, but it even added a step.  They did no less work, but slightly more.  The land gods had given them a gift that made them toil harder, as Praoziu had given Denziu a gift that made zir toil harder.  The ''reward'' of having no famines was juxtaposed strangely with the cookies on the table.


    "I don''t know," said Denziu.


    "Do you want any more?" Taioma asked.  "Surely you must be hungry after all that walking."


    You''re undead, thought Denziu, staring at Taioma''s mist-wrapped form.  Zie was hungry, but the setting was still putting zir off the cookies.  If zie might have preferred meat, the sight of Taioma''s hands made that desire more remote still.  "Why are you bringing the land god''s blessing only to me?  Why not feed the whole caravan?"


    Taioma reared back slightly, then laughed.  "Oh indeed, whyever not!  I will say a little prayer to Inadagedyn and he will give us a little basket for you to carry off cookies in."


    Sarcasm.  She was sarcastic.


    "I can''t quite carry all these cookies without one," Denziu admitted, "But why not bring them here?"


    "They are all much older than you, Denziu," said Taioma.  "They have already been tested.  Each of them has been offered gifts and toils and ten dozen lives other than the one they are living.  Most of them, you know, would take far more than you have taken, oh little mudmonster of Lauvera..."  She laughed again, more softly.  "Would you be willing to eat another, for me?"


    Mudmonster of Lauvera?  Denziu hadn¡¯t done any mudwallowing at all on this journey.  And how did Taioma know that Denziu had ever done any at all?


    Denziu circled the table a few more steps, until zie was at the plate where Taioma had taken her first cookie, and Taioma was at the plate where Denziu had taken zir first cookie.  Denziu sniffed at the half-a-cookie remaining, and was repulsed by the faintest hint of dragon''s blood.  Zie grabbed one of the untouched cookies, and tore it in half.  Bittersweet.  Some strange, unfamiliar flavour, delivered in chips of some kind on a base of sweet squash.  Such a different flavour, but still a heavy, moist cookie, like all of the cookies on the table.


    These soft cookies would fall apart if Denziu tried to pick them up in groups.  Zie couldn''t bring this back to the caravan.


    Taioma delicately picked up the half a lemon cookie that Denziu had ripped up, and tore it up into little pieces that she ate one by one.  "Thank you," said Taioma, when she had finished it.  "You know, I thought this would be a proper feast..."


    "I''m sorry to disappoint you," said Denziu.


    "Did you know, there''s only one kind of necromancer that can never learn any geomancy?" said Taioma.


    "Which kind is that?"


    "Ghosts," said Taioma.  "Literal ghosts.  There''s nothing left to bind the land god''s blessings to.  But I am not a ghost."


    "You''re an undead geomancer," supplied Denziu.


    Taioma stood stock-still, and yet a sense of motion crawled along her body as the misting shroud started to retreat from her.  It revealed a zombie, for lack of a better word; most of her body was intact, grey in the grey sourceless light, little rotted but unmistakably dead.  She was once a vrash.


    "Do you like your toils?" she asked, as Denziu stood transfixed by the reveal.


    "I-I, er, I do," stammered Denziu.


    "Then Inaildoro isn''t offering you what you want out of life.  Come back someday when you are dying to change your Fate," said the undead vrash, laughing again.  "Inadagedyn offers paradise.  And a rather easy advancement, for geomancers."


    She stepped to the very edge of the table, and reared up to put both of her hands upon it, then with a wave of one hand over the large plate in the centre of the table there arose a condensing distortion of the mist.  She muttered something as mist gathered over the large plate, then started billowing and fuming until all the table was half-covered... and when it was gone, there stood a simple basket.


    "I was going to summon a cake." Taioma stepped back from the table with an air of petty disappointment.  "But go on.  I have said a little prayer to Inadagedyn, and he has given you a little basket to carry off cookies in.  Just as I promised."  And at this she laughed again.


    Denziu gathered up the cookies, minus the six halves that they had eaten and the two halves that Taioma had touched, until the basket had twenty whole cookies in it.  They were flecked with various substances, light flecks of lemon on the three remaining lemon cookies, dark flecks of bittersweet foreignness on the two-and-a-half squash cookies.  Four of the cookies, untouched by both, were so dark that they were dark even in the greying half-light.  Denziu hadn''t tried them to know what they tasted like.


    When zie had filled the basket in this way, zie stood waiting for some sign from Taioma, who had gathered the mist to her body once again.  "Which way do I go to get back to the caravan?" asked Denziu.


    "Any way at all.  You will never return if Lord Inadagedyn doesn''t wish you to... but I think you will return five strides from the table, just in time for the caravan to be waking up."


    "What?  So I''ve missed a night of sleep for this!" said Denziu, alarmed.  Zie hadn''t felt like such a span of time had passed!


    Taioma shook her head again, a great mistwraith of a two-tailed dragon once more.  "No.  You will have gotten a fine night of sleep.  One last blessing for playing along...  You''ll see."


    Disquieted, Denziu walked away from the table, and the grey dusking light didn''t fade at all as zie went.  Five strides from the table, zie saw zir wagon floating in the air over the sleeping form of Choave, who was sheltering under it, and a dusk-lit foggy forest was all around.  No, not dusk.  Dawn.  It was grey dawn light, brightening slowly.


    "Choave," said Denziu, nosing at the sleeping caravan leader, "I''ve returned safely, with a gift from Inadagedyn."


    "Hm wha?" said Choave, rousing.  He looked at Denziu, then at the basket Denziu was carrying, and that morning the caravan had strange cookies to share with breakfast.  Moist, heavy, but a mix of familiar and alien flavours.  The four darkest ones were a different variation of bittersweet flavour that none of them had tried before.


    The dragons of the caravan found something strange as the cookies were shared around.  Even though there were at most four of each flavour, nobody was denied the chance to try one of the flavours, for the basket failed to deplete!  So they had a large, sweet meal on the morning of yet another long hike with wagons at their back, then set at once to making use of it.


    The fog cleared after they finished eating, and there was no more forest around them when the fog cleared.  Indeed, there was no more fog all the way ahead of them to the border of Danundseer, but Denziu saw all around them the emerald farms and livestock grasslands of yet another boring farm theome.  They saw their first glimpse of Inrakaveach looming far overhead in distant mountains on the horizon, but this place dominated Denziu''s thoughts too much to raise zir gaze to the horizon and think about the mountains.  For as zie looked around a place that looked like only the same manner of (admittedly prosperous) farmland as surrounded Mosdenechrak, zie wondered where, in which layer of this place, and with what details...  What was the ''paradise'' that Taioma had tried to offer to Denziu?


    Alongside Ekis zie walked again that day, and so thinking of Taioma¡¯s claim that the other caravanners had all been tested, zie asked, ¡°Hey, Ekis.  Have you ever been ¡®tested¡¯ by a spirit in Inaildoro?¡±


    Ekis smiled at Denziu, but it was a strange smile.  Her eyes were tired, and it was an expression that Denziu had never seen on her, for an izerah cannot feel normal exhaustion at all.  ¡°We¡¯ve all stepped away from the caravan in this theome at some point.  Few of us have done it twice.¡±


    Taken aback by Ekis¡¯ attitude in saying it, Denziu said, ¡°But¡­  Taioma said that Inadagedyn offers paradise.¡±


    ¡°Paradise arises first in the mind,¡± Ekis said, and she looked away from Denziu to stare at the wagon in front of her.  It was an endless stare at nothing in particular, and Denziu withdrew without asking anymore.


    It was a long and quiet walk after that.  Denziu wondered to zirself if the basket zie now carried would be an infinite cookie basket, as though it were a hint forever of that paradise, but this idea proved foolish the first time Oghai relayed a request for one of the cookies.  The undepletable basket had been a blessing of the morning mist.  When they were eaten in the light, the basket depleted as normal.  With thirteen dragons in the caravan, it did not last the march to Danundseer, and Denziu was left with a final relic: a mundane though well-made basket created by the magic of Inadagedyn, with a rather surprising little legend burned into it: "Made in Inaildoro".

 Chapter 11: Danundseer

    Danundseer was another forest theome.  Known for its mushrooms, animal products, and farmergons tending plots of herbs or vegetables rather than great fields of grains, the landscape grew hilly here where the mountain of Inrakaveach loomed over the horizon.  Yet the roads remained excellent, if occasionally sided by intimidating ravines.


    The group paused at the boundary of Danundseer to receive Choave''s blessing.  That writhing black shadow dripped from his hands as he repeated that ritual dance; it flowed across the ground and upward into them, filling them with the strength they needed to move quickly across the land though they were burdened.  Or though they were still inexperienced, in Denziu''s case.  The ebullient strength of the blessing filled zir and made the work of keeping pace with the caravan into a delight.  The spell sank into them invisibly, but the feeling of it stayed and Denziu knew it would stay until evening.


    The caravanners at points had to file along in a single line 1 wagon by 14 wagons long, not because of narrow roads, but because once they departed Inaildoro they shared the road with ample southbound traffic towards Mosdenechrak.  Everyone they met flashed Tekagoli charms as though to congratulate the caravan for making its way through Inaildoro.  These were a string of little cheerful encounters.  The road south of Danundseer into Inaildoro was a popular one for dragons who carried the Tekagoli luck charms that quite famously made Inaildoro into a safe place to visit.


    The existence of other dragons on the road was reassuring to Denziu.  The roads in Inaildoro were intrinsically desolate for the lack of traffic.  Here, the theome was again conventionally mappable.  The roads were always in the same places and dragons who went in opposite directions would meet each other.  It was something that Denziu had always taken for granted before.


    Why had Inadagedyn wanted Denziu to meet an undead geomancer..?


    There was a high wind that day in the hills of Danundseer, but Denziu was determined to record the encounter with Taioma and write a letter home about it.  Zie had to resort to gripping a writing board in a two-handed grip that punctured the paper on zir claws.  From there, the lev-i-quill could do its work.  Twice, errant gusts pushed through Denziu''s amicus breeze, making the paper flap and carrying off the flying lev-i-quill.  This would have horribly punished any bearer of a lesser quill, but Praoziu had enchanted this lev-i-quill herself, and it swiftly flew back into Denziu''s possession each time.


    The recent experience with an unmappable theome wasn¡¯t going to be the only one of its kind on the journey.  They were only going to be in Danundseer overnight.  It was a small theome, and after that they would be on a short road to Keltia-Aneya, the infinite forest theome.


    They would have three days in Keltia-Aneya, very certainly.  That was something that Denziu had read about in the libraries of Querent-Querent.  There were roads into and out of Keltia-Aneya, and every journey through the theome from any entrance to any exit took three days.  Trying to keep direction-sense in Keltia-Aneya was a ritual prayer, and the roads were occasionally broken or blocked, requiring back-tracking or sudden bursts of labour... yet it was a boring theome despite all this, for no monsters were on the roads of Keltia-Aneya.  It was just the land god messing with dragons by making them camp three days in the forests of a mercurially changing theome.


    Amidst all these thoughts of the road ahead, the party reached a village in Danundseer, and dispersed to find places in the market.  Without much hope, Denziu broke open zir wagon and set it up to try to lure customers in.  The open box of warming spelltiles was a new asset here, as it cast an invisible hand of warmth forward to passers-by and helped yet again with making Denziu look the part of magic vendorgon.


    Denziu tried zir new sales pitch of selling the pots as points for the warming tiles, which drew attention, then lost two customers who were affronted at the pots'' asking prices.  Not a good market for artistic pottery, zie concluded.  Regretfully, zie went back to treating the pots as a colourful background while selling the other items.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Comparing with nearby sellers, zie found the local sale price for Tekagoli luck charms was as low as the sale price in Tekagol itself.  It seemed like Tekagoli luck charms were dirt-cheap everywhere dragons thought they were good luck to wear.  Zie sold a few of them anyways on the grounds that at least zie was making back zir investment piece by piece.


    The only thing zie drew a profit on was the sale of a single warming tile, which got a rather good price because the warming tile sold for two bolts of silencing cloth, something Denziu accepted as valuable yet hadn''t been expecting to encounter in a Danundseer village market.  Two bolts of silencing cloth should be a better trade than the price in coin zie had been asking for.


    Perhaps it shouldn''t have been so surprising; if the villagers were typically decked out in Tekagoli luck charms and dealing with the Mosdenechrak markets to the south, it made sense that they would want to trade in silencing cloth.  It was practically currency in Mosdenechrak, accepted everywhere like a kind of high-denomination coin.  Denziu wondered if zie would have to cart it all the way north and then south again to get a good price on it - or would it be a valuable exotic when they crossed the sea to Kelkaith?  Zie thought again of Lorvaza encouraging zir to hold onto the silencing cloth until they got to Jiasote, and decided again that doing so seemed like the best idea.


    Wasn''t Jiasote famous for being a sanatorium theome for dragons who needed it badly?  They would need silencing cloth for peace of mind with wounded neighbours.  That had to mean it would yield a good Fate to go there with the cloth.


    The hours at the market stretched.  Denziu had the sense that zie''d made zir last sale of the day long before the market closed.  There was ample time to think of Fate.


    So zie thought about Inadagedyn again, and about Fate.  That necromancer, Taioma.  That geomancer, Taioma?  They weren''t usually professions that were crossed together, were they?  It was strange to have met an undead geomancer.  Fate tangled around geomancers and necromancers.  Geomancers worked with Fate, reshaping it by nudges and negotiations.  Necromancers spent their life force to break Fate outright.  What Fate governed undead geomancers?


    Zie wasn''t a rebel against Fate.  In decades as a soil seller, it didn''t really come up.  The ground wasn''t Fated to be of good or bad quality, was it?  Technically it was, because the land and Fate were together the substance of a land god.  Yet the soil worked by rules, and Denziu knew those rules, knew how to sort soils by colour, texture, and smell.  Good loam had a balance you could feel.  The vrash farmergons learned that feel intimately and emulated it, changing the soil under their crops, reaching into the ground to make it what they needed.  They talked about silt, clay, and sand rather than Fate.


    Denziu had befriended all the vrash farmergons in Denxalue and many of the vrash farmergons in Tekagol.  Zie knew a few of the farmergons in Relny as well, though Relny was a dangerous place precisely because it had no guard against bad Fates.  Dragons came to ill ends all the time in Relny... and, no coincidence, there was a necromantic academy in Relny.  Where Fate was bad, necromancers were good.


    It was a long, boring day at market, selling nothing and having nobody to talk with, so Denziu thought about occult subjects.


    That evening, the caravan gathered in a campsite outside of the village.  There were no caravanserais in the little villages of Danundseer, but it was one of the most harmless of the Missing theomes and a place where humble Tekagoli caravans were the usual kind, so they gathered in the open with only the posting of a watch.  Denziu was excluded from the watch as a novice.


    They made a meal of a thick mushroom stew and vegetable pies, with Lorma the Vegetarian (a grey and bronze vrash) exuberating about the foods available in the local market.  "This is my favourite place on the corridor," Lorma said.  "This little village is the only place where locals cook the kind of food I like, almost exclusively.  They¡¯re vegetarian!"


    Lorma was never one of the merchantgons crowding the markets, but when everyone else went to market Lorma searched for vegetables in her hopeless quest to lure dragons away from carnivory.  Sometimes the result was good.  The mushroom stew was thick and savoury.  Sometimes the result was less impressive.  The hand-pies were an herbal mush wrapped in pastry.

 Chapter 12: Keltia-Aneya

    The next few days only intensified that impression.


    Dubious vegetable hand-pies became one of the basic memories Denziu thought zie would have for the rest of zir life, or at least the next couple of centuries, about Keltia-Aneya.  Lorma had an annual contract with the local bakery and came back with a packed crate of pies.  They were a convenient food and she loved them dearly.  The vashael in the caravan could eat them on the walk.  The vrash needed stop only for a moment.  They fueled their walking by snacking on those pies.


    As improbably massive trees blocked the sky over the roadway, they were constantly making random turns and even doubling back.  That was the other memorable thing about mystic Keltia-Aneya.  To step from the road was to be lost.  A tree or two could be shouldered aside, and several times they unhooked from their wagons to collectively shove aside trees, but a road that suddenly ceased to be was nothing they could safely walk on.  Going off-road was strictly forbidden.  Keltia-Aneya was a theome where nobody could safely explore.


    They posted no watches, but in the nights stayed up singing songs.  There were no bandits in the woods, and the land god was the only monster in Keltia-Aneya.  Choave sang again, and the most memorable of his songs was "Kairjel the Light-Bringer," about an exploring kalla - one of the strong-shanked thunderbirds - who learned to summon light without the thundering noise of kalla lightning calling and became a symbol of liberation in some far theome whose name Denziu had never heard before.


    Kishka the Runepainted stood to sing as well, and proved a worthy balladeer singing of a travellers'' longing to return to civilization, though the content was three days bleak.  Denziu liked the song, but it lost the wilder dragons Omrezen and Mosdrao.  They were shoving their shoulders at each other in the middle of it, grunting with the contest, and Kishka almost lost the tune when Mosdrao eventually slipped and crashed to the ground with an ¡®oof¡¯.  There were some rumbling laughs and a dirty look from Kishka, and he waveringly picked up again where he¡¯d left off to finish the last two verses.


    When Kishka¡¯s song stopped, Omrezen and Mosdrao stood, but quite abruptly so did Sharisen.  The white vashael glared at them and said, ¡°Oh, you two are going to sing a duet?¡±


    They glanced at each other uneasily.


    Sharisen¡¯s glare did not relent.  ¡°Go on.  Right in front of all of us, then.  You know that¡¯s what¡¯s safe here.¡±


    Omrezen and Mosdrao sat back down again.


    Sharisen showed her teeth.  ¡°Good.  Now I¡¯ll give you something rare.¡±


    Sharisen the Sociable took Kishka¡¯s place in the centre of the circle, and there was a great excited bustle from the group as they all wondered what their ¡®most sociable¡¯ caravanner might possibly be about to perform for them.  After a long period in which she took deep breaths and repeatedly gestured for silence, culminating in her clawing sharply at the air in Kishka¡¯s direction when he said, ¡°Well go on already,¡± , she finally started reciting a poem.


    It turned out to be a long, bitter poem about the ill wisdom of eternal social lives and the inevitability of hatred, punctuated by claw-slashing gestures and horrid, grinning reminders that they were all mortal-after-all whenever the dragons in the poem fought each other.  Sharisen seemed to enjoy the bloody parts of the poem.


    When the performance was done and everyone had politely applauded, Denziu asked, ¡°How old are you really?¡±


    Sharisen raised her head proudly.  ¡°I am a first generation primordial.  I was made when Theoma was made.  Want to know exactly how many years old our world is?¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Denziu leaned in avidly.


    ¡°Too bad.  Ask someone else.  But so far, I¡¯m not mortal.  Learn from me.¡±  Chuckling, Sharisen went back to a place around the campfire and let someone else be the entertainment again.


    Mosdrao of Jiasote and Omrezen the Hunter had both sung for the group before, but they did not sing that night.  Nobody glared at them on the other two nights, but they still seemed in moods too sour to sing.  Mosdrao largely would not talk, but struck bitterly at a few of the trees.  "I believe exploring should be possible," he said when Denziu had twice caught him at this, "But the land god of Keltia-Aneya kills almost everyone who tries!"


    For her part, Omrezen asked on the second night, "What use is a forest where no hunters may ply their trade at all?" and this at least sparked a bit of a debate around the campfire after Lorma suggested, "Maybe the land is better to the animals than it is to the hunters."


    Although Omrezen''s response was a bitter, "Who cares about the animals!" there was enough interest around the campfire that Lorma went on to say that Keltia-Aneya was a different forest every time they visited, and the land god of Keltia-Aneya seemed to govern whole worlds of forests.  It was perhaps an excellent place for animals to have animal Fates in, untouched by road-walkers such as they.  At length Lorvaza, fingering a fate-charm, said, "I wonder if we are not all animals to the land gods."


    That second night, when everyone else had gone to sleep, Denziu found zirself unable to follow them.  After a while, zie sat up, and noticed at once that there was someone else sitting up as well.  Kishka!  He had his gaze up to the sky.


    Denziu stepped across the camp to zir fellow beige-scaled vashael.  ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± zie asked in a whisper.


    Kishka silently pointed upwards, and Denziu realised there was a break in the massive canopy over the road.  They could see stars from where they were.


    Denziu whispered, ¡°Something about them?¡±


    ¡°Different stars,¡± Kishka whispered back.  ¡°Not our stars.¡±


    Denziu stared at the stars with Kishka for a while, and then went back to try and sleep again, disquieted.


    That third day of travel in Keltia-Aneya, Kishka took the place next to Denziu in the column of the caravan.  Ekis travelled in Kishka¡¯s usual place up front next to Choave.  ¡°Want to talk about stars?¡± asked Denziu.


    Kishka said, ¡°Yes, and I realised we haven¡¯t talked much on this trip.¡±


    Denziu asked, ¡°How have you memorised enough of the sky to know from that little glimpse through the trees that the stars of Keltia-Aneya aren¡¯t the stars of Theoma?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a traveller by trade,¡± said Kishka.  ¡°Like Mosdrao, but he loves the wild.  I seek civilization.  Either way, when one flies far enough, celestial navigation comes in handy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been all over Theoma, then?¡±


    Kishka shook his head.  ¡°No, not all over it.  I¡¯ve been all over Tachamund, Kelkaith, and Western Ormeri though, as well as the civilized parts of Kanjamund.¡±


    Denziu asked, ¡°What do you seek in your travels?¡±


    Kishka smiled.  ¡°Some of it has just been for my own joy, but for most of it¡­  I am always a merchantgon.  I work with multiple caravans, flying ahead of them and negotiating terms.  I start work on this caravan well before we set out.¡±


    ¡°Do you join the other caravans like you join this one?¡±


    ¡°No.  Choave is a great friend of mine; I am not otherwise a haulergon.  I spend the rest of the year on the wing, negotiating so that haulergons keep busy.¡±


    They walked on in silence for a while, until Denziu asked, ¡°What do you think is going on with Keltia-Aneya¡¯s stars?¡±


    ¡°I am not suicidal enough to test my thoughts with exploration,¡± said Kishka, ¡°but I think that this theome connects to other worlds entirely!  Worlds of forests, with nothing but a few roadways carved through them.¡±


    Denziu said dubiously, ¡°Surely there would be more dangerous wild animals.¡±


    Kishka took a deep breath, and huffed a roiling fireball into the air over the road.  The unexpected flame drew cries of surprise from the caravan, and then everyone was listening in.  Kishka said, ¡°More dangerous than dragons?  The land gods create such challenges sometimes, as in Ayadaro, but in most forests on Theoma there are no animals that would challenge a dragon.  I think Keltia-Aneya is an exit from Theoma.  Dragons who grow sick of ¡®civilization¡¯ may come here to live in an endless, bounteous wild, but then they may never return.¡±

 Chapter 13: Xeladash

    After three days of random travel, the group came out of the northern border of Keltia-Aneya with much gratitude for the sunlight that was no longer contesting with a massive canopy.  A great mountain-range that had been ahead of them when they went under those trees was now southeast and behind them; they had passed around the western edge of the mountain range whose nearest extent was called Inrakaveach.


    Denziu had read tales of Inrakaveach, which was also a famed industrial theome, and zie kind of wished zie could travel there.  They supposedly had one of Theoma''s few roads to the deep-under, where different land gods reigned over strange lands far from the sun.  It¡¯s a someday travel, zie thought.


    Ekis was on Denziu''s mind that morning, too.  She remembered talking Denziu''s fins off about the deep-under two weeks ago on the way through Denxalue.  The two flying wagons were side-by-side in the wagon train again on the walk to Xeladash.


    "I''m always tempted to break away from Choave''s caravan when we get here," Ekis said to Denziu.  "Inrakaveach is right there!  Maybe we should go there together!  Your pottery from the surface world will be even more exotic there!"


    "How can they appreciate paints without lights?" Denziu asked, thinking of the weight of the mountain between the sun and the land below.


    "But they have plenty of lights!" said Ekis.  "They have geomantic blessings of light all over, and necromantic blessings of light so I''ve heard, and the myrskor can give up fragments of their light magic to produce sun-bright orbs!  You can buy them at the market in Inrakaveach!"


    Denziu had heard plenty about myrskor lights two weeks ago, but Ekis had given up something very new this time.  "What is a necromantic blessing of light?" zie asked.


    "Light by which the land gods cannot see!  It sounds very strange, but they are unFated lights!  Dragons are Fated to be blind in darkness when the soul-lights of a necromancer are shining to show the way!  Having a bunch of them in the deep-under must make Fates down there harder to weave!" said Ekis, leaning towards Denziu.  Denziu imagined from her eager tone that she''d be gesticulating avidly if she weren''t gripping the tongue of a floating wagon.


    "Do you think the merchantgons down there would sell me necromantic lights for warming spelltiles?" Denziu asked, musing about the idea of splitting with Choave.  The products of the deep-under sounded exotic enough to sell easily on the surface, if necromantic lights were a commonplace in the deep-under.


    "They might!" Ekis said, "I don''t know where or when it gets cold in the deep-under, but if you find a spa, they''ll surely buy you out of those!"


    "A spa?  What''s a spa?"


    "Oh!  A spa is a luxurious place!" Ekis said.  "There¡¯s warm and cold baths, they have mudbaths, they''ll trim and buff your claws, and they stock cosmetics of every kind!  I know you use your paints on yourself!  I wish I could sell your paints to a spa.  They''d love to use them on other dragons!"


    ¡°Mudbaths?  Luxurious mudbaths?¡± asked Denziu, zir imagination caught.  ¡°You can get a mudbath for free in Denxalue!¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s swamp mud!¡± protested Ekis.  ¡°It smells awful and it¡¯s gloopy.  Spas use clean, healing muds!¡±


    "Are there any spas on the Tachanigh-Kelkaith?" Denziu asked, thinking that zie hadn''t sold the bulk of zir paints yet.


    "They¡¯re rare!  Jiasote has three, because they consider them medicinal, but most theomes have none.  If you still have warming tiles when we get to Jiasote, sell them there!  I know you''ve a box full of them," said Ekis, and Denziu thought wistfully half a box, for in truth Denziu''s necromantic box was a two-layered thing that was a little less than half full of the little ceramic bits that were warming spelltiles.


    Still thinking of the deep-under and Ekis'' longing to visit there, Denziu asked, "Do you think we''d be able to find a spa in the deep-under?  Would it be hard to find one?"


    "Oh, it might.  They''re such a waste of time, really," said Ekis a bit sadly.  "Just dragons having fun relaxing; nothing gets done in a spa.  But I think there''s a chance!  The myrghon, they don''t work with their hands, I¡¯ve heard they get fat relaxing.  So there should be plenty of dragons who would want to go to spas in the deep-under!  We would just have to spend a few years trading food while learning about them!"


    Denziu grimaced.  "The problem there is taking goods from the surface down there would require us to cross Keltia-Aneya.  Again and again.  For years."


    "We can buy food from the Xeladash markets!"


    "I think it sounds like an interesting way to spend a few years," said Denziu, "but I think I''d rather stay with the caravan going north for this run."


    "Ooh, I do hope you mean that," said Ekis, beaming with excitement.  "I''ve been trying to recruit someone from this caravan every year, Choave only does one run per annum, and so far it''s been no good at all.  But your flying wagon!  The only way this would be more perfect would be if you were an izerah yourself.  We could RUN, Denziu!  Not you as long as I, of course, but we could still go so much faster, because you and I both have such very good wagons!"


    And of course they did have very good wagons, and Denziu was seriously considering joining Ekis, not currently but soon.


    This whole trip north had been such a beautiful change of pace!  The world hadn¡¯t exactly seemed small, flying between different theomes to meet all the farmergons and pottergons.  Denziu had felt like a fast-moving dragon with active wings.  It was only in hindsight that zie saw the world was so much wider still.  Zie was seeing a world of opportunity opening up as zie travelled north, and zie wasn¡¯t even flying on this trip.


    Zie had no true set plans for what to do after the run to Hydalath and back was done.  Working with Choave was an occasion, not a job.  Each of them had some manner of employment elsewhere.  They did this to travel together on an excuse of profit.


    Zie wasn¡¯t confident that zir old job of selling soil to farmergons was still there.  Zie¡¯d sold a lot of soil samples over the years.  Most of the farmergons were vrash.  The pottergons would still need clay, and vashael farmergons still needed good soil to till into exhausted fields, but the vrash farmergons were likely only buying in love of Denziu.  They wouldn¡¯t need more until they got rusty.


    The farmergons were all Denziu''s friends now, but it didn¡¯t seem a stable employment with friendship rather than business carrying it.  The few vashael farmergons of the region each benefited from several wagonloads of fresh soil every season, but some of the more roustabout vrash could provide that service as well as Denziu could.


    Travelling with Ekis in the deep-under was easy to imagine as a new job thanks to Ekis'' endless chatter.  The untiring izerah had a motormouth to match her legs.


    Xeladash itself was a bright and vibrant city with red colours predominating.  The accents on buildings were generally set against red, and some buildings stood out in one way or another by bucking the trend towards red paints and red stones.


    The broad roads were lined with merchantgon stalls and occasionally shops, and above these there were apartments that opened up cavernously so that dragons could fly right into the buildings to land on internal balconies.  It was a city on the wing!


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    There was a caravanserai at Xeladash near the harbour.  It was an imposing fortification with walls three stories tall and quite wide as well, fit for the amount of trade Xeladash received.  There was a vrash atop the wall, whose officious-looking armour suggested that they relied on wall guards rather than a dome to protect merchantgons here.


    Choave had hurried the caravan across the city, fuming when city traffic slowed them, and sending Oghai to goad them onwards and keep their rows in position.  Ekis kept up effortlessly; Denziu surprised zirself by doing fine as well.  Two weeks of walking had hardened zir legs.  If Choave had a reason to hurry them...


    That reason turned out to be, "I don''t trust this city not to steal everything we''re carrying," as Choave explained to Denziu when zie was settling zir wagon into a caravanserai berth.  "Any questions?"


    Denziu asked, "If I find a buyer for my pottery, can I bring them here?"


    "No, you may not," said Choave.  "You''d best abandon hope of selling things, because Xeladash is practically a missing theome.  Tasumdynal exists and yet will not ding the Fate of thieves in this city.  In turn, the thieves in this city keep the city''s few true laws.  They want your pottery, Denziu, the tiny fraction of whose value they can get will be greatly enjoyable to them."


    Denziu tilted zir head.  ¡°How do you sell Shaleara cider if the crime rate is so bad here?¡±


    "Don¡¯t worry about that.  I do this every year, and I know I can trust my purchaser."


    There was a lull in the speech, and Choave was still looking at Denziu, so Denziu said, "How about exploring on foot?  Is that safe?"


    Choave laughed.  "Safe enough!  Just pouch one of your warming spelltiles and be ready to give it up when you get menaced.  They¡¯ll let you go for a minor magic item."


    So Denziu wondered if zie should stay in the caravanserai zirself, because writing off a warming spelltile was asking a high price for Xeladash, which had little wonder for zir if zie couldn''t try to sell pottery and spellcharms in it.  This would have been even more tempting if there had been a good and cheap eatery in the caravanserai, but there was not; they would be stopped over for anywhere from a day to six days, depending on how long it took to rent out part of a ship for the trip over the Xang Sea and the Great Lake Smaril until the League Tonturaseer, where next the group intended to make landfall.


    Finding the stairs to the wall, Denziu climbed up to see the view of the city from the third story.  From here, zie could take off into the air if zie had a destination in mind.  How to spend the days until Choave secured for them a ship?  There would be time to kill, and zie needed to find some way to do so without killing zir budget.


    Although it had little to do with what made Xeladash itself famed, zie was most tempted to visit the local Library of Querent-Querent.  Surely there would be one in every great city, and from there zie could perhaps study Inrakaveach and moreover the rumoured road under Inrakaveach.  What was rumoured afar might be certainly known up close!


    Climbing down from the walltop, Denziu inquired in the caravanserai¡¯s office for directions to the Library of Querent-Querent.  Zie was offered a map to the place, but reared back from the price tag of the hand-painted scroll, and so the innkeeper pointed Denziu to where a copy of the map was framed behind glass on the wall of the office.  On this was marked various landmarks of the city, and the Library of Querent-Querent qualified.  The inn-keeper also tapped a sidestreet in the shadow of the caravanserai and said, "If you''re here a few days, eat here.  I''m told the best place on a budget in the area is down this street.  It''s called The Cursed Hammer... but don''t mind the name... and don''t buy their alcohol."


    "What''s wrong with their alcohol?" asked Denziu, who wasn''t particularly of a mind to try it, yet who was very curious.


    "They''re very proud to sell it overstrength, that''s what''s wrong with it," the inn-keeper said very earnestly.  "I''m sure you know this - I see your little pewter charm - but you mustn''t let the barkeep there or anywhere goad you into drunkenness."


    "Oh dear.  I''ll eat there early, to avoid the dragons who eat there late..." said Denziu.


    The inn-keeper nodded knowingly and said, "That''s the spirit!"


    So Denziu went first to The Cursed Hammer, and asked for a bread-bowl of stew with a side of a SMALL beer.  There was a brief stare-down with a grinning barkeep who asked if Denziu was VERY sure... and then, guffawing, filled the order as requested.  The large tankard of small beer tasted appropriately low in alcohol.  The stew was filling, albeit bland; Denziu finished by mopping bits of stew off zir snout.  The bread-bowl proceeded to taste better than what it¡¯d contained.


    There was a large painting of a red-feathered kalla on the wall in The Cursed Hammer.  It was their most notable furnishing, Denziu thought, the room being otherwise nought but tables and a hearth, with strange-looking glowing hooks hanging in fours for lighting.  The legend written under the portrait said in great curving letters, "Tasumdynal''s Favour".  It was a picture of a red-feathered kalla, raising a tankard of the spout-tipped sort served to kalla, whose beaked faces benefited from an aid to drinking.  They looked drunk.  Zie asked of the bartender, ¡°Who is that in the painting?¡±


    ¡°Why, that¡¯s Tasumdynal himself!  He loves us, visits all the time!¡±


    Under a painting of his avatar?  Denziu wondered about that.


    In a true missing theome, it would be ridiculous to claim the favour of a land god, but Xeladash wasn''t a true missing theome.  It was a negotiable theome with a land god who favoured thieves, louts, and other ne''er-do-wells.


    After The Cursed Hammer, zie set out across town to visit the Library of Querent-Querent.  It was a great temple of red stone with a blue orb atop it like a beacon of contrast, making it highly visible from an aerial scan of the city.  A landing platform hung from the orb with stairs leading down into the building.  Denziu landed and went inside.


    In the stacked shelves of the Library was a great wealth of knowledge about distant theomes, for the mandate of Querent-Querent is to promote trade, travel, and migration between distant places on Theoma.


    If only they had more knowledge of necromancy!  Such a profane subject was against the mandate of Querent-Querent to promote, but Denziu was very curious to read about necromantic lights.  What influence would a necromantic lighting fixture have, if it was always revealing a little gap in Fate..?  A little moment where dragons were Fated to be blind, and yet Fate was stuck being wrong about that, to correct itself a moment later with what dragons had seen and had done under the cover of necromantic lights.  The thought distracted Denziu as zie requested scrolls about the deep-under and tried to fill zir time hunting for information about the trade conditions in places that many dragons didn''t know were real.


    It was in a dry scroll the next day that zie found it.  This was a customs scroll.  Page after page of ordinary goods were listed with their estimated customs tariff, revealing a wealth of information about what their expected values at market were, with only a minor extrapolation needed to go from the known tariff rate to the expected market value.  This was the kind of thing that the trade-fixated Libraries of Querent-Querent could provide to merchantgons!


    And in this scroll, there was the record that some enterprising dragon had hauled three wagon-loads of necromantic light fixtures up into Inrakaveach!  They had paid due customs upon their goods, whereafter by some causality the scroll had eventually found its way to (or been duplicated into) the Library of Querent-Querent in Xeladash, to serve the greater interests of trade between Inrakaveach and the deep-under theome to which Inrakaveach had a road.


    That theome''s name was Adenth!  The name of its land god was still unknown to Denziu, for the customs scroll didn''t list it.


    Nor did it list the exact, current value of the necromantic light fixtures, though it listed the value that the local government of Inrakaveach expected them to have as of thirteen years prior.   Denziu fetched out zir lev-i-quill, a paper, and an ink phial for the quill, then did the calculation then and there to find out what the expected market value had really been.  Zie labelled the paper with its calculation as necrmatic lits frm Adenth.


    This was a fixation that invited a curious thought of Taioma.  For if Denziu was investigating necromantic lights at a Library of Querent-Querent, zie was certainly investigating necromancy where Fate was strong, and while wearing a Tekagoli Luck Charm as well.  In all likelihood, Inadagedyn had already known that Denziu would study this matter a mere few days later, had known before dispatching Taioma to tempt Denziu.  Land gods had some seerage.


    Was that why Inadagedyn had wanted Taioma to meet Denziu?


    It was part of zir Fate that zie would have that conversation with Ekis and produce this little scrap of paper at this library.  The further conclusion: Baggil had also let Denziu be Fated with the study of a necromantic trade good!  How curious were the land gods; did they not oppose necromancy''s inclination to let lesser divinities slip the grasp of Fate?  A darker thought: Was there something in Denziu¡¯s probable future that zie needed to slip free of?


    That simple scrap of paper and math became a prize to show to Ekis that night at the caravanserai, so that Ekis knew that Denziu had very much meant what zie had said about potentially joining Ekis after completing their current run of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith, and as well so that Ekis became informed of the tariff rate that Inrakaveach''s government charged on the imports from the deep-under, which Ekis would need to know about to calculate the worth of the exports from the Adenth markets.

 Chapter 14: Tonturaseer

    The crossing of the Xang Sea between Xeladash and Xanasal was a mere two days, courtesy of wind mages aboard the ships to make the wind consistent.  Those two days would take the group six times farther than they could travel on foot in the same time, and they''d be able to travel that distance sitting on their tails rather than being up on their feet.


    Vashael wearing white hip-coverings with wind runes on them crawled over the deck of the great two-masted ship that Choave had secured them passage on.  The ship''s seagons were loading the wagons and locking them in position in the cargo hold.  A great crane aboard the dock was picking up first one wagon then another, and setting each one down gently through a great open hole in the centre of the ship, where presumably the seagons would lock it into position in the ship''s hold underneath.  The cargo they were carrying (a shipment of tools from Inrakaveach) was being loaded separately upon the ship.


    Zie reviewed the transit planning in zir head.  Destinations and day-tallies rolled through the red-painted dragon¡¯s head as Denziu watched the dockwork.  It was unfathomable to zir that zie was sixteen days from home and in eleven days would be crossing over into the parts of Kelkaith that were drawn on maps as perpetually covered in snow.


    Icefields.  Would they really be icefields, like northern Kelkaith was rumoured to be covered in?  They were doing this in summer, when the roads would be open to wheeled traffic.


    Even travelling on foot, steady travel day after day for so many hours could cross huge differences.  Choave¡¯s travel blessing was making a huge difference, too.  They couldn¡¯t run (as Ekis had complained), but they were pulling their wagons twice as fast as they¡¯d go without it.


    Long-awaited Hydalath was seven days after the passage into northern Kelkaith.  Denziu had already moved two pots at Mosdenechrak.  That left six cloth-wrapped pots that would hopefully sell at Hydalath.  Contrary to Taltios¡¯ warning, there¡¯d been no sign of lost pots so far.


    Hydalath would be eighteen days from the present moment, a total of thirty four days from home.  "Grand adventure!" Denziu had thought.  "Take these pots to another continent to sell them!" Denziu had thought.  Thirty four days.  The distance felt so approachable, now that zie was almost halfway through it.  Zie understood how it was that Choave could run this route every year.


    The great bulk of Denziu''s fortune was tied up in zir performance at Hydalath.  Ideally, zie wouldn''t just be selling at the market at Hydalath, but would make some kind of art dealer contact...  It made zir antsy to be eighteen days from Hydalath without a keen and clear idea of how zie was going to offload zir pottery somewhere that had started out sounding terribly far off and exotic.


    The whole order of the caravan route was much clearer now that Denziu could see it wasn''t such a long distance from Tekagol to Xeladash even going by foot.  Denziu felt ridiculous and provincial for having been a soil-seller with zir flying wagon.  Zie could be flying such great distances if zie were intent upon it.  No wonder the other caravanners had seen the wagon as some great investment!


    Past Hydalath, the caravan was eight days from Choave¡¯s ultimate destination: a south Wraquo depot awaiting a delivery of lumber that Choave would pick up from Rhianasril, a theome on the way about which Denziu knew nothing.  Wraquo, Denziu knew a little more about.  It was an improbable theome on the northern edge of Theoma, where advanced factories worked in one of the farthest, coldest places in the world.  They had no trees to fuel their industry and they were very far from the coast.  Consequently, they paid exorbitantly for wood.


    That would be forty three days from home.  It would be just as long coming back.  Choave held eleven dragons for eighty five days every year¡­  Now, for at least a few years, he would hold Denziu as well.  Denziu touched the hawk charm at zir chest.  Zie¡¯d seen no reason not to carry on this course.  Ten circuits should satisfy Baggil that Denziu meant to be a merchantgon for the long-term.


    Denziu was eager to continue.  The red city Xeladash was behind zir physically, and it was behind zir mentally as well.  Zir spirit was already aboard the Tenth Charm, which was the ship that Choave had hired to bring them across the Xang Sea.


    It was a pretty thought.


    Reality hit pretty hard a few hours later.  Denziu had never been aboard a boat in zir life.  Denziu suffered sea sickness after boarding.  Briefly.  The nausea never had a chance to go anywhere, for Denziu decided to go up.  Up on the wing, up far from the boat.


    After a brief and refreshing flight, Denziu landed back upon the deck of the Tenth Charm and called for Choave.


    "I should like to get off this boat!" said Denziu vociferously, splayed on all fours to counter the unnatural heaving of the deck, and this was the stance Choave found zir in when he came up to the deck himself.


    "Hah!  You and half the caravan," said Choave.  "I think this is a perfectly easy little retreat, but if you''d like, go fly ahead to the League Tonturaseer!  You may even want to break your wagon from the hold and see if a few days at the market will shift any of your pots!"


    This eventuality being discussed, the aforementioned ''half the caravan'' (six of them) took wing and flew across the Xang Sea even faster than the boat could have made it.  They were led by Kishka the Runepainted, who knew the business of Choave''s caravan so well that he could fly them ahead and have no risk of missing the reconnection.


    Neglected in their ground travels, Denziu''s wind sprang to life when Denziu thought of it, and zie spent the flight to Xanasal meditating on the flow of the wind under zir wings.  Several times, the vashael in the group had to sweep back to avoid outpacing the vrash of the flight, whose wings carried them well and swiftly, though not quite as effortlessly swiftly as the magic-assisted flight of the vashael.


    Seeing Xanasal from above like this was still a marvel, for alongside the Great Canal which linked the Great Lake Smaril to the Xang Sea, there was the titanic psuedo-vrash form of the  land god Agylkyravor, who resided in an open area at one side of the Xanasal city limits.  Standing like a draconic mountain, Agylkyravor opened and closed a "canal" formed of solid earth by sweeping gestures at the ground and sea that somehow swept open and shut the earth itself, so that ships could sail into Lake Smaril by a path of even water that existed only while they were traversing it.


    From Xanasal to the League Tonturaseer on the other side of Great ¡°Lake¡± Smaril was another hour of flight across Theoma¡¯s largest freshwater sea.  Of the three towns in the League Tonturaseer, Kishka had directed the fliers towards the northernmost of the three, which was called Raldrani.  It was a very prosperous looking urban area with stout buildings, many workshops, and a splay of vibrant farms across the whole span of the grasslands that connected it to the next League city to the south.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Denziu had read about the local grasslands here.  This was one of the northernmost of all the farming theomes in all of Theoma.  The growing season was much shorter here than in most farming theomes and the land god Imraziu didn¡¯t bless the crops.  Instead, she blessed the farmergons, giving them supernal skill at being farmergons, so that they attained large yields despite the climate¡¯s difficulty.


    None of this mattered greatly to the market at Raldrani, but it was fun to think about.  And to see from far above!  Having flown ahead of the Tenth Charm, zie''d gotten to see the League Tonturaseer as vashael ought.


    Getting such a distance so swiftly was exhilarating to Denziu.  Choave had scoffed at the flying wagon when they¡¯d mustered in Tekagol, but if they¡¯d really been running this route for countless years and really intended to keep running it, they could go so much faster if they flew.  Was that really just a luxury?  Denziu reflected that zie had no idea how expensive and rare a flying wagon really was.  Praoziu had simply gifted one to Denziu.


    Of course, they¡¯d be waiting for Ekis at every stop if they just flew.  Worse, it might segment the whole caravan.  A running izerah was not as fast as a flying vrash, and a flying vashael was even faster.  Would they want to carry Ekis through the air?


    As zie lay next to zir wagon in the caravanserai recovering from the long flight, a momentary fantasy of the whole caravan pulling a collective airship occurred to Denziu.  The thought was too much.  It broke up in snickering and Denziu put it out of zir mind.


    After a few minutes of recovery, Denziu got up and folded zir wings upon zir back, deciding that zie should work the market while the day¡¯s light held.  It was a late hour to start upon the market, but the day was long in the Kelkaith summer.


    Not before this trip had Denziu ever realised the full magnitude of the gift that Praoziu gave to zir in the form of zir flying wagon.  For as a provincial soil seller, zie had at least been travelling from place to place through the air.  Someday, when more flying vehicles have been made, caravans like Choave¡¯s will be airborne, zie thought as zie pulled zir flying wagon across Raldrani''s market, looking for a good place to set up shop.


    There was far less of a riot of scents and animal products here than there had been in Taithorkey, a continent away.  There were instead a lot of tools and crafted goods.  There were also some very excellent and creative glassworks outside of a workshop built right next to the market area, being shelves full of dishwares and even two thirds of a metre of shelving dedicated to what might be glass blown sculptures in a variety of colours.


    When zie''d found an open place in the market, zie pulled open the wagon''s compartments and piked up its tent, then with a brief prayer that Tonturaseer¡¯s land god Imraziu would tolerate zir warming spelltiles, zie opened up the necromantic box and was gratified by a wave of heat from the open necromantic box.  Enchanted goods could lose their potency when carried from one theome to another, but these warming spelltiles had been blessed so far, and were still good as they gained value with Denziu''s advance northwards.  Lorvaza had been right to tell Denziu to buy a necromantic box.


    Zie unwrapped several of zir pots so that they could catch the eye of passers-by.  The market at Tonturaseer might be prosperous enough to buy the pots at something like their deserved price.  If zie were very well-connected, or at least very well informed of the area, Denziu wondered if zie might be able to sell them all to a vendorgon, but zie would settle for being an exotic foreign vashael in a vest with colourful ceramic inserts to catch the eye.


    Finally, zie opened zir bin of Tekagoli luck charms, hung zir paint phials from the front of it as before, and took a position in front of all this.  "Luck charms for long life," Denziu called, and "Warming spelltiles!  Be ready for winter way in advance with good annual warming charms!"


    To these calls zie added this time a few hopeful iterations of, "Painted pottery from distant Denxalue!  Finest pots of Tachamund, right here!"


    The warming charms sold!  They proved a worthy investment for the markets of Kelkaith, even this far south.  Even more sold on the second day, and at one point a vashael smelling of baked goods said, "Oh, these warming tiles!  A customer showed me one yesterday!  Never mind winter.  I need these to keep goods warm in my display case.  I''ll buy six!"


    It was the kind of windfall that isn''t supposed to happen when one is carrying a Tekagoli Luck Charm, Denziu thought, but that didn''t stop zir from taking a hefty purse of coins.


    The pots did not sell.  Denziu thought it a commentary on the pragmatic dragons zie saw shopping in the marketplace, though there were a few who wore gold as well.  The dragons wearing the most jewellery were all drawn to the glasswares workshops rather than to Denziu''s pottery, tch.  Hopefully Atney''s market would bite better in a tenday.


    The bone fishing tackle from Taithorkey was an unusual thing on Denziu''s wagon.  It was too singular for Denziu to be hawking it, yet nevertheless it had a price card attached to it.  It attracted a curious fishergon who bought it for use in Great Lake Smaril.


    The paints sold out.  A few sold the first day, and then they all sold the next day to a small number of buyers who seemed anxious to get enough.  The artisans of Raldrani were an unexpected perfect audience for phials of paint.  Zie recorded in zir journal the intent of someday coming back to this place with a more substantial amount of paint to sell.  In more colours as well, if possible!


    With that luck, Denziu was no longer a paint seller for the rest of the journey.  It was a relief to see zir labour well-rewarded.


    The charms were a strange thing.  There was no very great market for them, but zie sold three nonetheless, to dragons who seemed to regard them as a strange, promising magic after Denziu explained carefully that the Tekagoli luck charms were very protective in their way.  They were very humbly protective, Denziu phrased it.  Very good at protecting humble dragons who did things in regular ways.  ¡°If you want to try something new after buying one of my charms, try joining someone else who has already been doing it,¡± zie said, thinking of Choave¡¯s steady leadership of the caravan Denziu had joined.


    This protective spin was quite far from the lore of Tekagoli Luck that Denziu had learned before ever joining a Tekagoli caravan, but it was the impression that zie''d gotten from being well-protected as a Tekagoli merchantgon.  Zie didn¡¯t feel zir luck was simply bad, particularly not in those two fortunate days at Raldrani¡¯s market.  Hopefully, Baggil would make an honest seller of Denziu.


    Thinking that humility in the face of such luck might be a good piety to Baggil, who still held reign over Denziu''s luck in this journey, Denziu skipped on all celebration, but stashed away the coin in zir wagon.  Zie ate modestly, ordered no alcohol, and purchased no entertainment, but in the hours between the close of market and the sealing of the caravanserai zie visited first the Temple-Library of Querent-Querent to read for a time, and then near the close of the night went to the local Temple of Uttermost Dark for meditation.  Returning to the caravanserai revealed that the Tenth Charm had arrived.  Zie found Oghai checking in the rest of their wagons.


    Zie had gotten the impression that the local market would be poor for fate-charms, and so sought out Lorvaza, but she said, ¡°We¡¯re not planning to stay a day for the markets of Raldrani.  We¡¯ll be leaving northwest along the river Lorniven at first light.¡±


    "Indeed," said Choave, "We may even set out before first light!  We''ll want to avoid camping in Lorhinatom, lest we find the sun that won''t rise tomorrow, and if we push we can arrive in Rhianasril instead."


    The sun that won¡¯t rise tomorrow!  Denziu was alarmed.  Would they be running through a dangerous theome with an extra-strength travelling charm?  Would Choave do such a thing every year?

 Chapter 15: Lorhinatom and Rhianasril

    There was nothing whatsoever unusual about Lorhinatom, as far as Denziu could see.  They entered the theome with the dawnlight, and worked hard all across it with Choave''s blessing singing in their muscles, with the whole caravan complaining jovially about their heavier laden wagons.


    It was a boreal theome.  There were coniferous trees.  The road was excellent, as usual; it stayed relatively near the waterway and so they ran the journey listening to the flowing of the swift river Lorniven.


    Oghai traded duties with Ekis, just for a change of pace; Ekis became the runner at the side of the caravan that day, while Oghai stayed with his hands on the tongue of Ekis'' flying wagon to pull it alongside Denziu.


    "Have you ever traded in necromantic lights from the deep-under?" Denziu took the occasion to say.


    "What an oddly specific question!" Oghai answered.


    "I''m thinking of setting up a trade route with Ekis!" said Denziu.  "The theome under Inrakaveach is named Adenth.  There''s a tariff bringing goods up from it, but I expect it''s worth paying.  Have you ever been?"


    "I have not.  I hope you''ll join us next year, if that''s how you spend the months between the runs of Choave''s caravan!  I should like to hear the stories of the place," said Oghai.  "Yet why necromantic lights?"


    "Oh, they''re a curiosity!" said Denziu.  "They''re like my painted pots, at least in my own head.  Exotic, yet still real enough that I can imagine them selling."


    "More a real thing than painted pots," said Oghai.  "You know, you may want to break away from the caravan on the approach to Evonthe, if you still have any pots in your wagon when we get there.  They call it the Museum Theome.  That might be the right place to sell your named-and-dated samples of Denxalue history."


    "If I could lob anything at you two for chatting, I would!" came a shout from behind them.  From gold-scaled Chatulerin!  Denziu startled, not expecting to be yelled at by Chatulerin the Calculator, who had chosen a different position in the lineup that day and ended up behind zir.


    "Yeah!  We haven''t all flying wagons!" shouted Omrezen the Hunter, who was pulling next to Chatulerin, "Some of us are working hard today!"


    Ekis rushed to the disturbance and was next to Denziu¡¯s side in a moment.  "Let ''em talk!" said Ekis, reaching towards Denziu''s shoulder as she easily paced the caravan.  Dropping back a row, Denziu heard her say in zir defence, "Denziu can''t pull that weight, we should be glad our first-timer isn''t slowing us down!"


    Almost all the dragons in the caravan were pulling their weight that day, huffing and puffing as they pushed themselves to carry a heavy load quickly to avoid overnighting in Lorhinatom.  The crates of metal cordsaws filling their wagons made rushing miserable.


    "Why are we rushing today?" asked Denziu.  "What''s so bad about camping in Lorhinatom?"


    "It''s just strange," shouted Omrezen from the next wagon pair back.  "The sun sets here and that''s it.  You don''t see it again until you leave the theome, but it never quite finishes getting dark.  That''s a bad light.  It''s dark enough to make mistakes by and bright enough to think you won''t!  So we want to be out of here before the sun sets."


    "We want to be in Rhianasril!" said Chatulerin.  "It''s got a good forest, lots of lumberjacks, and plenty of beekeepers.  We''ll have honeyed waffles tomorrow for breakfast, but we''ll have to get there first!"


    So they set about it with a will, and Lorhinatom proved a small theome swiftly crossed, so that by evening they were lodging at a wood-walled caravanserai in Rhianasril.  There was the wreckage of a dome above it, caved in and missing its centre.


    They did indeed have honeyed waffles, with bowls of honey-sweetened berry juice the next morning.  Choave and Kishka brought in a local that they knew, and the sore dragons were woken the next morning by the smell of the waffles toasting in the caravanserai''s kitchens.  The waffle cakes were imprinted with a pattern of conifer trees so distinctive that Denziu wondered if the waffle irons were a local artisan good that they might try to carry away.  They were delicious of course, slathered with honey just as promised, and the caravanners were abundantly fed that morning with sides of venison sausage and vegetable strata to dig into as well.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Payment for this meal came in kind, as a crate of cordsaws from the caravan were yielded up to the local who had cooked for them.  The cordsaws were worth more than just the meal: a crate of beeswax and three jars of honey were also added to the caravan''s reserves.


    "We trade lumber from Rhianasril," said Choave over breakfast, speaking to Denziu, ¡°And I know a chandler in Atney who¡¯ll take the beeswax for a good price.¡±


    Denziu asked hopefully, "Are we going to spend a day at market in Rhianasril?"  The rest of the crew perked up as well.


    Choave shrugged.  "Aye, we will, but don¡¯t expect to sell much.¡±


    The delivery may have been downbeat, but hearing that they¡¯d have a day off of traveling still struck a cheer from the sore dragons at the breakfast that morning.


    Choave smiled, but didn¡¯t comment.  He said instead, ¡°They¡¯ll buy equipment from Inrakaveach, but Rhianasril is actually a bit poor without a land god guiding it.¡±


    "Game meat and honey, it¡¯s a great place for a break!  Give the marketing a rest and don¡¯t even bother," called Orachu the Unambitious.  He was leaned in over the table, his head low and his tail flat on the ground.


    "Even Orachu is hurting after the rush through Lorhinatom!" said Denziu, stunned.


    Choave nodded.  "Yes, we''re all sore today, but we aren''t going to fall apart.¡±


    When they had all finished their waffles and drinking bowls, Choave said, ¡°You can all disperse for the day.  Go hunt in the woods, if you¡¯re not too sore!¡±


    Omrezen roared, leaping to her feet. ¡°Finally, a good hunting spot!¡±


    Mosdrao stood from the table with less vigour, but said, ¡°I¡¯ll join you!¡±


    Lorvaza laughed and said, ¡°These people won¡¯t buy enchantments from me. With all my charms protecting me, I¡¯d say I¡¯m only a little sore.  Mind a third?¡±  She walked over towards Omrezen, who nodded and turned.  The three dragons walked away together.


    ¡°Barbarians,¡± said Lorma, shaking her head.  ¡°We¡¯re perfectly able to eat vegetables.¡±


    Sharisen licked one of her teeth, and shot a glance at Honom, who nodded.  The two stepped away from the table in silence.


    Ekis and Oghai were bundled together after the meal, both of them looking bright and fresh.  ¡°We¡¯re hunting, too!¡± said Ekis.


    ¡°On our own,¡± said Oghai.


    ¡°At our speed!¡± said Ekis, puffing up her chest and flaring her earfins.  The two of them took off at a sprint.


    To the dwindling crowd still at the tables, Denziu said, ¡°I¡¯m going to set up in the market.  Without a land god to protect them, the dragons here might be very interested in Tekagoli Luck Charms.¡±


    Orachu, Kishka, and Chatulerin muttered about how they weren¡¯t likely to go anywhere, and Denziu nodded in commiseration, for zie was hurting too.  Still, zie saw a market opportunity and was determined to try it.  A poor and godless theome might not buy zir pottery, but they might buy zir luck charms.  Zie walked from the caravan, stretching sore muscles.


    The town at Rhianasril was one of the smallest that Denziu had seen.  Nobody had laid a proper road, so Denziu walked on stony paths between narrow wooden buildings of a single story each.  Some of them had shingles out front proclaiming different trades.  Denziu ignored them, seeking the open market space.  There had to be one.


    The local butcher at least seemed prosperous; Denziu passed a brick storefront whose windows were translucent glass in many small pieces, the edges of which fit together in a slashing claws pattern, both faced together towards a door.  Being only a day from Raldrani, Denziu imagined that they must sell all manner of meat products in their neighbouring city, and the trade route lead dragons all year round to refresh their supplies here.


    Denziu ducked inside briefly and found where Honom and Sharisen had gone.  Zie waited until they¡¯d completed their purchases, then bought a heart of venison.  Travelling with Lorma hadn¡¯t made a vegetarian out of zir just yet.


    Not far from the butcher, Denziu found the market¡¯s heart.  There were stalls here selling forest produce like Taithorkey¡¯s market, but there were no spice traders at this one, and the bonework was much rougher.  The market was sparse and there was no difficulty getting a good, central place to open up.


    Denziu didn¡¯t bother unwrapping any of the pots this time, but set out zir box of Tekagoli charms and zir warming tiles.  There weren¡¯t many of the warming tiles left.  Still, they drew interest.  They warmed the air for passers-by.  People came over to the unexpected warmth by Denziu¡¯s wagon, and asked about it.  Unfortunately, Denziu couldn¡¯t turn a profit at a price that the locals would pay.


    ¡°Guard your Fate with Tekagoli charms,¡± zie suggested to passers-by who couldn¡¯t buy a warming tile.  ¡°Baggil the Seer saves lives!  Trust in her!¡±


    It worked!  There was no strong local prejudice against Tekagol here.  They were far enough from all of Theoma¡¯s Tekagoli Luck Beacons.  Denziu told many local dragons about how they were protective charms for humble dragons, and would be perfect for the lumberjacks and apiarists of Rhianasril.  Zie set a modest price and sold the rest of the box!


    Blessedly, they paid in silver.  Denziu still had the ivory coins zie¡¯d accepted in Taithorkey.

 Chapter 16: Velrilari

    Velrilari was one of the theomes that Denziu had read about.  Like all of the theomes with "Visit Me" beacons, it was well-covered in every one of Querent-Querent''s sacred libraries.  It was said that blessings rained down on dragons who visited the temporary artworks that the god Ghavest built up in it.


    Where most of the land gods were renowned for their millennial attention spans and feats of long, subtle planning, Ghavest was known for his impulsive and impetuous creative temperament.  An artist in the medium of architecture by trade, Ghavest was constantly raising and destroying buildings in Velrilari.  The buildings rose by land god magic.  The buildings fell by earthquake!


    Velrilari was ¡°The Blessed Earthquake Theome¡±, littered with old rubble as though an ancient civilization had risen and fallen within its boundaries, where a scattered tourist industry clustered around merchantgon camps and drifted along long paths in a curated false wilderness.


    The caravan spent a night in Velrilari.  There were three merchantgon camps in the theome, and the caravanners expected to visit all there of them for overnighting on different legs of the trip.  The one near the border with Rhianasril was their first night.  The one near the border with Atney would be their second night.  The third would be the one along the way to Tirrtian Pass, a great landmark that awed Denziu, but they would not be travelling that way until their return trip from Wraquo when they visited Velrilari on the way back.


    Even though they planned to visit every merchantgon camp, Choave wasn¡¯t planning a single market day at Velrilari.  He had a good-natured scepticism of the blessings that Ghavest gave out.  "Who can prove them?" he said.  "This place is the soul-searching pinnacle of a hundred stories written for leisure, where heroes find strange insights.  Who will write our story, when we are just burly merchantgons travelling from Tachamund?"


    Denziu quietly thought this was an error.  Lorvaza''s broad selection of fate-charms should have a good market opportunity here, and if the caravanners had brought a wider selection of goods, they could have spent days here profitably supplying the stream of travellers lured by Ghavest¡¯s promise of spiritual empowerment.


    That evening as zie lay trying to sleep, Denziu reflected that zie must have gained something back in Tanoriz.  Zie remembered being carried across half of Denxalue.  Zie had kept up just fine since Tanoriz.


    Later that night¡­


    "Hm, I know this isn''t my usual medium, but...  Oh!  Oh, I saw that!  Good!  Good good good!  You''re attentive!  I knew I could get that spell right," said an exuberant voice from nowhere in particular.


    Denziu was at rest.  Zie was sure of it, and intensely comfortable.  Zie could feel that zir body was positioned just perfectly, and even though zie was under a blanket in a tent, there was no trace of drafty coldness or cricked limbs.


    Denziu was also sitting up, alert.  Somehow these two states were simultaneously true.  Zie was sitting on a platform in a nebulous room, specifically.  It was a rather small room, which seemed to have green (or was that blue?) tapestries of maze-like patterning hung upon every wall, and no door into the room, and...  Oh, nowhere in particular was... about four feet away, once Denziu had sorted out that zie was in two places at once.  That exuberant voice had come from four feet away in the room.


    For there, four feet away, was a dragon of fine jade scales, cloven hooves, no wings, and a pair of helical horns sticking up from his head.  He looked to be of the same species as Praoziu.  "How do you feel?" said the jade-scaled dragon.  "Can you talk?"


    "Can I talk?" asked Denziu.  Talking did feel a little odd.  The Denziu that was sitting up alert could talk.  The one that was perfectly at rest could not.  There was a minor effort involved in sorting the two perspectives, but Denziu couldn''t not make that effort.  Zie felt disconcerted.


    "Oh, wonderful!  You know, we don''t...  I mean, okay, we almost never do this," said the green dragon.  "I''m Ghavest!  We don''t usually dream-tamper!  It''s very forbidden, because it''s very very necromancy!  Oh!  We''re supposed to be geomancers, Denziu!  But every land god is a necromancer and every lesser divinity is a geomancer."


    Denziu felt a little frazzled listening to the energetic statements.  The sense of perfect rest was slipping away.  "Forbidden?" zie asked.  "Who forbids anything to land gods?" and then, because zie had never heard of land gods dream-tampering at all, zie said, "Actually, I don''t think I believe this is happening."


    "Oh, we forbid each other things all the time," said ''Ghavest''.  That was how Denziu thought of the apparition of a dragon, because clearly this couldn''t be the real Ghavest.  "Do you know, I''m doing this blind?  I can''t see what''s about to happen.  You''re always just about to eject me from your dream, that''s what Fate says."


    "Can I do that?" asked Denziu.


    "You will do that!" said ''Ghavest''.  "You''re stronger than I am, hee hee!  At least right now, in this place."


    Denziu grumbled and laid down on the platform in the nebulous room with its deep blue maze tapestries, mimicking zir position outside of the dream so the uncomfortable sense of being in two places at once would be mitigated.  "Why am I having this dream?" zie asked.


    "Because Choave is being an awful task master, that''s why.  I wanted you to look at my sculptures," said ''Ghavest'', sagging on his feet with his head drooping.  Momentarily.  Then he perked up again and said, "But oh!  Aren''t you at all intrigued, oh at all, that dream magic is considered necromancy?"


    "Inadagedyn thought I was interested in necromancy, too," said Denziu, yawning with the perspective that was in the room with faintly purpling blue maze-patterned tapestries.  "But I don''t think it is necromancy.  There''s no flesh modifying going on."


    "This place is a-" said the over-enthusiastic green dragon, and then was cut off.  For just then, Denziu had managed to just perfectly be in one place at a time, that perfectly comfortable resting position that zie was in the tent, whereupon zie woke up very gently and yet quite instantly, still feeling perfectly comfortable.


    "None of that was Fated to occur!" a distant voice said, sounding just exactly like ''Ghavest'', and Denziu raised zir head with a startled snort at the sound, no longer feeling quite perfectly comfortable.


    Zie sighed, feeling like zie''d been cost something of zir slumber, but a moment''s reflection after laying down revealed another gain: all trace of soreness was gone, leaving behind a body of perfectly comfortable muscles.  It was the blessing from Tanoriz, reiterated.


    And zie thought, necromancy was a strange word.  Death magic, wasn''t it?  The magic cast from the eventual death of its practitioners.  The magic that averts Fate...  when dragons are Fated to live almost forever...  Zie fell, wondering, into a dreamless slumber.


    Talk about the caravan the next morning was that everyone had a remarkable night of sleep that night.  All the muscle aches from hard wagon-pulling had gone away with supernal speed.  The wagons also gleamed like they''d been made anew.  There was a general agreement that they had been blessed by Ghavest.


    In light of that blessing, Lorvaza broached the idea that perhaps they should celebrate a divine blessing by spending a day seeking the other blessings of Velrilari (as surely Ghavest would prefer).  Choave countered that there was no caravanserai and they would never get far as merchantgons flying away from their cargos.


    Instead, Choave offered a different suggestion: if they pulled hard, they might cross the theome to the next merchantgon''s camp nearer to Atney, and have then a few free hours in the evening.


    When they discussed it, Choave¡¯s plan had shorter wings than an izerah.  He was disappointed by the consensus against him, so Oghai offered a compromise.  "We can split half-and-half if we¡¯re afraid to leave the wagons untended.  Half of us can stay with the wagons while the other half fly across the theome.  At midday, we can swap."


    The decision of which of them would explore in the morning and which would explore in the afternoon being nearly arbitrary, Choave allocated them, and Denziu was assigned to the afternoon exploration.


    There was not the faintest sign of interest in the caravan¡¯s wagons all morning, and Denziu wondered if they really needed to guard them at all.  Ghavest had paid them personal attention by blessing them.  Would the land god now permit them to be stolen from?


    With no active guarding needed, the morning watch sat around a campfire roasting bread on a stick.  Choave, Mosdrao, Sharisen, Orachu, Honom, and Lorma were there all morning waiting for their turn to explore the theome.


    Honom didn¡¯t partake in bread on a stick.  Indeed, he might as well have been a stone carving dressed in his black cloth armour, for he was fascinatingly still and silent that morning.  Even when he eventually set about some manner of sacred exercise it was still a matter of silent grace.


    Sharisen the Sociable wrapped a stick in dough to cook bread on a stick with the rest of them, but she contributed exactly as many words as Honom that morning, for she was nothing for conversation, as usual.  Still, she listened to everyone.  Denziu remembered her admonishment to learn from her and wondered what she was thinking.


    Lorma had provided the group with bread dough, but after that she departed to go searching for supplies in the merchantgon camp.  ¡°I¡¯m buying beets if I can find any.¡±  There was only one dragon in the camp excited about this plan, but there she was.  ¡°They grow in all manner of frosty-soiled theomes and they¡¯re cheap near Tirrtian Pass!¡±


    That left Choave, Mosdrao, Orachu, and Denziu to be the ones actually talking to each other that morning.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve never explored Velrilari before,¡± admitted Choave.


    ¡°Neither¡¯ve I,¡± said Orachu, eyes on the bread stick.


    Mosdrao glanced between them. ¡° I¡¯ve been here quite a few times in the caravan¡¯s off-season.  I think I¡¯ve seen most of it already.¡±


    ¡°Is there really magic here?¡± asked Denziu.  It seemed the most important question.


    ¡°There¡¯s magic everywhere,¡± said Mosdrao with a smile.  ¡°But yeah, Ghavest is a gift-giver.  He wants to be empowering.  There¡¯s something in every structure, but some of it¡¯s challenging.¡±


    ¡°What kind of challenge?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°Well¡­  Metaphysical ones.  The most long-standing structures are the ones where you have to think in the right way to get the blessing out of them.  There are also puzzle structures, but Ghavest gets embarrassed when too many understand them, so those don¡¯t last long.¡±


    ¡°Do land gods really know when someone is ¡®thinking right¡¯ to grant rewards like that?¡±  Denziu was struck and disconcerted by that.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±  The smile melted away, leaving Mosdrao with a more sober attitude.  He looked away from Denziu towards his bread on a stick, but he kept speaking.  ¡°That¡¯s part of how Fate works.  But, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s necessarily how those structures work.  Spells are cast by thinking just right, too.  I think Ghavest is proudest of the structures that get those who aren¡¯t ¡®mancers at all to cast one-off spells.¡±


    Denziu¡¯s questions had been leading the conversation.  Orachu had looked humbly interested, a pretty common thing for the quiet haulergon.  Choave by contrast looked a bit embarrassed, perhaps because he¡¯d lost the argument over what they would do that day, but he was still interested as well.


    Here though, Orachu spoke up.  ¡°Spells are dangerous,¡± he said.


    Mosdrao glanced over at Orachu and took a hand off his stick to wave it breezily in the air.  ¡°Don¡¯t visit too many structures, then.  The first one in a week won¡¯t hurt you.  Even a necromantic spell here or there won¡¯t.¡±


    There was a lull.  Denziu considered whether to tell them about the dream zie¡¯d had.  It was still bright in memory, as though it had really happened, rather than lost and foggy like most dreams became shortly after waking.  As much to keep the conversation moving as anything, zie said, ¡°I dreamed of Ghavest last night.  Can land gods meet dragons in dreams?¡±


    Choave looked at Denziu with a very serious expression.  ¡°It isn¡¯t wise to bet they have any limits but the self-imposed kind, though it¡¯d be very unusual.¡±


    ¡°We did wake with a blessing,¡± said Orachu.


    ¡°What did you dream that Ghavest wanted?¡± asked Mosdrao.


    Denziu said brightly, ¡°For us to take a day off and visit the structures of Velrilari!¡±


    ¡°Hah!¡± snorted Choave.  ¡°I wonder if Lorvaza dreamed of Ghavest, too!  Something gave her the idea to honour his blessing this way.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps she did,¡± agreed Denziu.


    They kept chatting until their bread had finished cooking, then slid the coiled bread off and put some of Choave¡¯s honey in the hole left by the stick.  It was a fine morning by the company, though still a bit dull.  Denziu rather wished they¡¯d packed a board game.


    When noon was nearly on them and Lorma had come back to begin cooking that evening¡¯s meal in earnest, Mosdrao said to the others, ¡°You know, there¡¯s probably nothing for me to gain here, but as the rest of you are inexperienced, I can try to show you a few of Ghavest¡¯s buildings.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Orachu.  ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± agreed Choave.  ¡°Of course!¡± chirped Denziu.  Even Sharisen nodded mutely.


    Honom broke his silence to be the only voice in dissent.  ¡°I¡¯m really not interested in warping my mind with Ghavest¡¯s tricks,¡± he said with a scowl.  ¡°You should have left me to guard the camp.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve offered,¡± rebutted Choave, returning Honom¡¯s scowl.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Honom inclined his head.  ¡°Perhaps next year.¡±


    The changing of the guard saw the five dragons take flight with Mosdrao in the lead.  They flew over the chill summer landscape of Velrilari, seeing a broad green land in the dark hues of coniferous forest, criss-crossed with roads and dotted all over with single structures and ruins thereof.  Some of what they passed over were like statue gardens with great sculptures that dwarfed a single dragon.  Other things were like cathedrals, great and complex buildings clearly designed to be beautiful.  A few were less describable, being delicately twisted and improbable buildings.


    Mosdrao led them first to one of those.  A cluster of weirdly canting spires had aerial walkways connecting them.  Given the way they leaned towards each other, some of the walkways looked structural, as though the buildings were leaning on each other for support.  It was hard to imagine this building had ever survived an earthquake.  Perhaps it wasn¡¯t meant to survive any.


    ¡°Is this really safe to climb around in?¡± asked Choave sceptically.  ¡°It looks like it¡¯ll fall over if you lean on the wrong wall.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t fall over until Ghavest tires of it.  Or gets embarrassed by it,¡± reassured Mosdrao.  He led them to a door at the base of one of the spires.  There were no other doors visible on the others, though they hadn¡¯t circled the spires to check all angles.


    As they were climbing the stairs inside, a disconcerting thing given the angle of the building, Mosdrao instructed them.  ¡°This will be a cramped place to explore with all of us inside at once, so we should start splitting up at the top of this first spire.  The treasures in this one are at the bottom of each spire.¡±


    The stairs let out into a small, empty room that branched with three walkways leading out of it.  The group split into three, with Mosdrao accompanying Choave down one path, Denziu accompanying Orachu down another, and Sharisen taking the third walkway alone.


    The next spiretop branched again, with two disturbingly angled walkways leading into two more spires.  The two dragons hesitated for a moment at the branch point.


    ¡°Is there really some kind of magic insight waiting for us down there?¡±  Denziu asked Orachu.


    ¡°Hard to imagine,¡± Orachu said.  ¡°How do you give insights without knowing who will visit?¡±


    ¡°The land gods are surely very wise,¡± said Denziu.


    There was no reply from Orachu, and Denziu might have continued onwards, but the laconic red dragon was staring at Denziu in a way that suggested Orachu was just about to say something.  At length he said, ¡°No.  They¡¯re not all wise.  Ghavest may be one of the foolish ones.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think so?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard Fate is very weak in Velrilari,¡± said Orachu.  ¡°I think what we find will have very little meaning.¡±  With that, Orachu picked one of the two walkways and departed down it.


    Denziu walked down the other one, and discovered that a pathway reconvergence resulted in walking into a room with Sharisen the Sociable and a downwards staircase.  The white dragon was sitting on the slanted floor of the towertop, looking out one of the windows at a view of the Velrilari countryside.


    ¡°Hello Sharisen,¡± said Denziu.


    She looked over at Denziu and inclined her head briefly, then went back to staring out the window.


    ¡°Have you been down this spire already?¡± zie asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Denziu stared out the window for a moment with Sharisen.  There was nothing special about the window save that it was the only time Denziu had ever looked out a window while sitting on a slanted floor.  There was what looked like a ruined cathedral with a broken fountain before it visible on a distant hilltop.


    Trying to interact with Sharisen was always flummoxing.  Even Honom was more vocal.  Denziu couldn¡¯t think of anything else to say, so zie went down the staircase in the spire instead.  The stairs spiralled down with windows alongside, until one of the windows was half-full of dirt and after that were windows with little lights inside of them to highlight the dirt outside as seen from inside.


    The staircase opened into a small basement brightly lit with magic lights.  A table filled the room, covered in irregular fragments of blotchy purple.  There was no order to them, but among the many pieces with no apparent use some looked to be hinge pieces, and others looked like latches.  If Mosdrao hadn¡¯t mentioned puzzles, this would just look like a mess to me, thought Denziu, picking up some of the fragments.  They felt ordinary.  Some of them kind of fit together, maybe.  At the stair-side of the table, some of them were already fit together, as though prior visitors had fiddled with them.


    Starting with a latch and a hinge, zie put other fragments together.  When zie linked two corners together successfully, the shape they described was so very much like two corners of a cuboid that zie decided that zie was making a little box.


    Around then, Sharisen came down the stairs as well, and Denziu gestured with the partial box, then pulled a latch and a hinge out of the pile to set them aside for Sharisen.  Without a word, the two of them started working on the box-bits.  They showed each other shapes that fit and traded pieces every so often.


    Eventually, between the two of them they made two complete boxes out of the pile of blotchy purple fragments on the table.  A few more of the pieces at the stair-side of the table were already fit together.


    There was no sign of any magic to this discovery until, playing with the latches on the boxes, Sharisen latched the box closed entirely, then opened it again.  With a little cry of surprise, she pulled a copper ring out of the box and showed it to Denziu.  Denziu did the same thing and fetched out another copper ring from the second box.


    Repeating the gesture only revealed an empty box.


    The rings were claw-rings that adjusted themselves to fit perfectly like magic items did, but there was no further sign of magic to them beyond self-fitting.  They came right off again and yielded nothing to Denziu¡¯s eye.  They looked like simple worked copper rings.


    The two of them went up the stairs bearing little blotchy purple boxes and wearing new copper rings.  Denziu thought to wonder what the purpose of the puzzle was and might have said so with anyone else, but Sharisen¡¯s quiet presence nearby made zir wonder if silence might be wiser.


    When the five dragons regrouped before the cluster of spires, all of them save Mosdrao were wearing self-fit copper rings on their claws.  Denziu and Sharisen were the last to arrive and were the only ones carrying blotchy purple boxes.


    Looking around at the group, Choave asked, ¡°Did we all reach into a weird fizzing ball for these?¡±


    ¡°I put together a box for mine,¡± said Denziu, gesturing with the box zie was still carrying.


    ¡°I got mine by arranging five spotlights to converge on a pedestal,¡± said Orachu.


    Since they¡¯d all been led here by Mosdrao, the four dragons with new rings converged to look at Mosdrao.  After a moment, Choave asked, ¡°What do these do?¡±


    Mosdrao just hummed briefly and then asked, ¡°Want to try another place?¡±


    With considerably diminished enthusiasm and a general attitude of ¡°we might as well¡±, the next place the five visited was one of the cathedrals.


    The inside turned out to be an art gallery with a vaulted ceiling.  It was full of pedestals behind glass over which floated images that progressed regularly through a kind of short story, and each glass display made a soft ticking noise audible when one stood right next to it.  ¡°This is one of the better ones.  It¡¯s worth a spell if you can figure it out,¡± said Mosdrao by way of introduction.


    The stories were all rather horrible.  They were full of dragons slipping from high places, which was really still a dangerous thing even for a winged creature, or missing something and being struck by a trap that was obvious from the viewer¡¯s POV.  Again and again the depicted dragons went about greedily or recklessly approaching a dangerous situation and then suffering for it, while the displays ticked quietly through sequences of images.


    ¡°Can we alter these?¡± asked Denziu.


    ¡°An excellent question.¡±  Mosdrao stayed where he was: by the entrance, watching all of them.  ¡°Can you?¡±


    There were no controls on the displayed pedestals under the images, nor anything behind the glass displays when Denziu checked.  Tapping at the display did nothing to it, and they had no scent to speak of.


    After the four dragons had been staring uselessly at the short awful stories for a while, Mosdrao drooped a bit and said, ¡°This one may be unfair.  It¡¯s a different experience for those who already know how to cast a spell.¡±


    Choave frowned at one of the displays that he¡¯d been studying particularly intently.  A golden vrash in very flattering white armour was depicted failing to hold off a collapsing ceiling while a hidden lever was very obvious to the viewer.  ¡°A spell?  I know a spell,¡± he muttered.


    The brown vrash sat before the display, rearing up to free both hands to press against the glass of the display.  Black fumes dripped from his hands through the glass that kept him back from the pedestal under the image.  They sought the pedestal, and nothing happened.


    One by one, the other four noticed Choave casting and turned to watch him.


    The black fumes curled about and through the image.  At first, there was no effect, but then with a shocked intake of breath from Choave his spell caught on the golden vrash depicted in the image.  On this cycle, the golden vrash mightily shoved back the collapsing ceiling, and lasted several frames longer struggling against it.


    Despite the surprise change, the story ended the same way as all the others.  The vrash fell and was crushed instantly by the massive ceiling.


    Choave ended the spell channelling, but the dragon in the next iteration of the story still got boosted mightily by a new frame depicting black fumes seeping into the image.


    ¡°It was like casting it on a dragon that¡¯s actually there,¡± Choave declared to the room.  ¡°It changed the story!¡±


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± asked Denziu.  ¡°We don¡¯t know any spells.¡±


    ¡°Everyone starts somewhere,¡± said Mosdrao.


    Every dragon in every one of the stories on display in the room made a mistake that was obvious to the viewer and hidden to them.


    The group spent much longer in this place than they had in the place of warped spires.  They made funny gestures at the displays like they were Honom practising forms back at camp, and occasionally they shouted exasperated advice at the depicted dragons.


    Denziu thought of the spellcaster zie knew best: zir sibling Aleicree, who had started self-teaching magic early by prolonged meditations on zir amicus breeze.  Was redirecting the amicus breeze a spell?  So Denziu started invisibly buffeting one of the dragons in the image with fluctuations of the amicus breezes.


    This did nothing and seemed to have no effect on any of the stories¡­ up until zie saved one of the dragons who was about to fall off a ledge with a gust of wind.


    The story changed.  Now, a new frame of a wind gust appeared, and the display in the pedestal ticked through a story where a greedy dragon trying to get to a treasure chest on the other side of a pit nearly fell into the pit when a piece of the ledge lining the pit crumbled underfoot, but was kept safe by spreading their wings to cup a strong wind blowing from the pit itself.


    ¡°I got one of them!¡± shouted Denziu.  ¡°Look!¡±


    There was one further alteration to the story.  Three new frames on the end indicated something turning in the design on the floor of the room, which they¡¯d all ignored up until then.  It was a colourful abstract mosaic.


    Denziu touched the part that had been depicted turning, and discovered that (while it took a very firm pressure), the floor tiles could be pushed through a grinding alteration.  Poking around at the floor, zie found other bits that could likewise be turned.


    After this, Denziu and Sharisen went around focusedly buffeting the characters in the story with their most basic wind spell to see how many of the image-dragons could be saved by gusty winds alone.  Several of them were pushed away from hazards or made to notice what they¡¯d missed, and their stories were changed to stories where they survived.  Each of these revealed another three-frame modification to the floor mosaic.


    Choave started hunting through the images to see if his one spell could save any of them, and although he seemed very reluctant to try it by just casting it, he did find one.  By vigour alone he managed to save a dragon clambering up a difficult ledge in a cave.  Another floor mosaic hint was the result.


    They had Orachu do the pushing and shoving at the floor to put it into the correct position.


    They couldn¡¯t save all of the dragons depicted with the spells they had available, and after half an hour of thinking very hard at the display boxes with their images in them, there was no breakthrough in casting new magic.  Yet there was something that Mosdrao pointed out: ¡°I won¡¯t tell you where the turn points are, but the floor is a map.¡±


    ¡°Did you figure this one out?¡± Denziu asked.


    ¡°Kind of?¡±  Mosdrao shrugged.  ¡°I just focused on their point of view until I knew what the thing they needed to see would look like to them¡­ you know, if they were real dragons in a real place and not just flat, simple images¡­  and then the stories changed as though they¡¯d never bumbled at all.  It didn¡¯t feel like casting a spell.¡±


    Fifteen minutes later they¡¯d saved the rest of the image-dragons with that hint.  When all of its pieces were correctly rotated, the room¡¯s abstract floor mosaic turned out to be a map of Velrilari with an elaborate highlight around one particular spot.


    ¡°Well done!¡± beamed Mosdrao.  ¡°Let¡¯s go there next!¡±


    The spot from the map turned out to be one of the many crumbled ruins in Velrilari, with nothing to distinguish it from any of the other most useless to visit places in the theome.  ¡°This one¡¯s a trick,¡± Mosdrao said as they walked into the shadow of the fallen building and found an intact downward staircase.


    ¡°You said this place is worth a spell.¡±  Choave took up a place next to Mosdrao at the front of the group.  ¡°Will we really learn a spell here?¡±


    ¡°No, the last place was worth a spell, but none of you got it,¡± said Mosdrao.  ¡°Neither did I, but some do.¡±


    ¡°You mean there was another puzzle solution?¡± groaned Denziu.


    ¡°Yup!  Lots of them in that room.  Now, this place¡­ is pretty simple.¡±


    They came upon a dark basement area, half full of fallen stone.  Yet just around the corner from the stairs, a gleaming treasure chest stood in an intact niche in the walls, with a glowing magic light dangling from the ceiling above it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take the chest itself,¡± cautioned Mosdrao, looking at a greedy expression that had lit up on Choave.


    Choave nevertheless stepped forward to open the chest.  Crouching before it, he read aloud a legend from the front that said, ¡°For those who know the land god¡¯s burden.¡±  Opening it up, he pulled from a velvet interior a handful of five brittle ceramic amulets.  He held them up to the group for a moment, then started passing them around one to each person.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s five,¡± said Mosdrao as he took the first one.  ¡°I guess I get another one.¡±


    ¡°These look like curse plates,¡± Denziu said, thinking about how brittle ceramic was usually used for curses rather than spells that anyone would want to have on them.  Zie looked at both sides of the amulet.  On the back there was tiny text that said, ¡°For one loved by Denziu.  Sell me not.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, they¡¯re not curse plates,¡± Mosdrao said.  ¡°These are extra lives!  Sort of, at least.  You can dedicate them to someone by putting it on a statue or bust of them, and that person will survive the next thing that would have killed them.  When that happens, the amulet will break.  They¡¯re called morbid luck charms.¡±


    ¡°Oh, praise Ghavest!¡± exclaimed Choave.  ¡°These are worth a fortune at market!¡±


    ¡°Turn it over,¡± said Denziu.


    Choave turned his new amulet over in his hands and read aloud, ¡°For one loved by Choave.  Sell me not.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°Huh.  I guess Ghavest customised these.¡±


    ¡°Knew which one we¡¯d get,¡± said Orachu, who was also looking at the other side of his amulet.


    Sharisen looked dejected, holding the amulet up by its clasped strand.  ¡°I don¡¯t have a pantheon room at home.  I can¡¯t dedicate this to anyone.¡±


    There was a moment of silence in the room.  The mood was¡­ tentative.  It was as though Ghavest had challenged Sharisen grievously, and nobody wanted to step between them.


    Eventually, Orachu stepped to Sharisen and, sitting next to her, reared up to put a hand on her shoulder.  ¡°Sharisen, we live longer because we love each other.¡±


    ¡°Everyone dies,¡± Sharisen said acidly.


    Choave took a step forward.  ¡°Commission a statue of any dragon you even faintly like, and put that amulet on the statue.  That¡¯ll slow somebody¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°You,¡± accused Sharisen, staring at Choave.


    Choave was taken aback.  ¡°Oh!  Uh, thank you?¡±


    ¡°I think we should just go back to camp now,¡± Denziu said.


    They went back to camp and stowed the morbid charms, and the whole camp was full of dragons talking about the art and puzzles they saw in Velrilari.  The morbid charms that Mosdrao had led them to were the most valuable find, but the others had scattered to different corners of Velrilari so that every one of them had their own tale of what they¡¯d found.


    After that, they stayed on the main road out of Velrilari towards Lorilaine, and they didn¡¯t stop after all at the camp on the other side.  Choave hurried them on saying, ¡°If Lorilaine takes more than a day to cross, we can camp there.  It¡¯s a very safe place to camp.¡±


    Despite the ruined structures they¡¯d seen and Velrilari''s reputation as ''the earthquake theome'', there was not any perceptible tremoring underfoot that day, and Denziu reflected that it was probably not an everyday event for Ghavest to destroy an art piece via breaking the earth underneath it.


    Not for the first time, Denziu marvelled at the distances they were crossing.  Zie could''ve crossed it all dramatically faster by wing, yet zie had never flown so far from home.

 Chapter 17: Lorilaine

    Denziu''s mind was in anticipation and curiosity as the caravanners marched towards Lorilaine. Zie had studied the whole of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith as best as zie could from the vast Querent-Querent Library at Zyrine. Lorilaine, zie thought, was properly a ''Benevolent'' theome, but as nobody wanted to live there it was recorded in countless annals as a ''Negotiable'' theome. This struck Denziu as rude to its land god Serafustin, who was very protective. The accounts that zie had read emphasised that Lorilaine was entirely safe. It was merely annoying.


    Serafustin was constantly looking far into the future of everyone who visited, and then pestering them with the ghosts of dragons they would someday meet.


    Flyers crossing Lorilaine tended to praise the effect. Flying dragons would be answered by other flying dragons, who would only someday look familiar as a result. Likewise, an izerah who took the entire theome at a run would only be met by other runners and perhaps flyers skimming overhead. Those who moved quickly considered it a place to play with ghosts.


    For trade caravans, plodding along the road? It was a place to be bothered by untiring ethereal summons.


    The landscape of Lorilaine was a place of shimmering beauty. The grasses here turned orange, and although they were still in a coniferous boreal domain, the foliage was in many places pink or red with silver bark. These trees survived here and not elsewhere.


    There was no sign of civilization save the roadway that they travelled on, and that smooth, steadfast surface underfoot was maintained by Serafustin. If they met a road crew in this theome, they would be able to see through them!


    As indeed, Denziu could see through a dragon who was flying from the north to meet them. She was pink and transparent.


    "Spread out!" called the ethereal flying dragon on an overlight pass, and there was nothing ethereal about her voice. It was a good, strong shout.


    She flew around, looking like a glass vashael shedding a mist from her wings, and landed next to the caravan. "Walk farther apart from each other so you can be spoken to separately and we''ll be done faster," she said to the caravanners as she walked along the caravan towards Choave.


    "Stand together so they''ll leave us be," rebutted Choave, speaking loud to the whole caravan from his position in the front.


    She was a strange pink crystal, quite like a glass statue of a vashael, yet she moved like an ordinary dragon without anything that spoke of the weight of stone in her motions. And indeed she moved quickly, catching up to the front of the caravan to speak to Choave. "This is a mystic theome. The very length of the road is a dream of the land god," said the ethereal dragoness.


    "Yes, and the width. Will we see the road abruptly become as wide as a field, that our 2 by 7 caravan should become 7 by 2 to fill the space?" asked Choave, still keeping his voice loud enough that all could readily overhear.


    "Serafustin can separate you if you won''t separate yourselves," said the ethereal dragon, threateningly.


    "She can, but she won''t," said Choave. "That would be impolite."


    "You''re being impolite!"


    "I have been here several times per year for hundreds of years," said Choave, "And the novelty has completely worn off. Pick which two of us, three if you must, that you really need to have a talk with, and let us all overhear whoever it is that gets confronted with an elliptical conversation about errors we were never going to make."


    The ethereal dragon gaped at him, and momentarily fell back a row as the whole caravan plodded onwards, but then she hurried to continue. "You were too going to make them! That''s the whole point of why I do this," she said, and at the phrase ''why I do this'', Denziu abruptly had the sense that they were witnessing Choave argue with Serafustin herself.


    "Are you actually Serafustin?" Denziu called up the caravan, and was momentarily glowered at in reply.


    When her gaze returned to Choave, the ethereal dragon said, "Fine then, but don''t complain to me when you meet the dragon who burns your house down. I would''ve told you what kind of dragon, but I won''t now. You''re not who I really need to have a talk with."


    Choave snorted, and Chatulerin called from within the column, "Sera, you forecast too far ahead! It won''t all happen and we know it!"


    The ethereal pink vashael turned and took a swipe in the air at Chatulerin, then abruptly vanished in a puff of the mist that had been falling from her wings. The creak of wagon wheels and the plodding of footsteps held a kind of silence in the wake of her departure.


    "They''re all Serafustin," said Ekis, from her usual place in the column next to Denziu. "They''ll pretend to be someone else, but everyone in Lorilaine is Serafustin. At least every pink crystal someone. Look, there are more coming." Ekis gestured forward.


    A pink crystal quadruped with big fins was jogging down the road to meet the caravan. It took Denziu a moment to recognize the rare form of a myrskor. Alongside it came the less alien though still rare form of a pink crystal kalla, while a pink crystal swaivshon came to a landing in the orange grass alongside the road just ahead of them.


    The ethereal swaivshon fell in beside Orachu the Unambitious and said a few things that nobody else heard, for their speech was all in whispers. ''Their'' speech, Denziu thought, having a poor sense of the facial structure of swaivshon, no scent cue to go by, and no audible speech to judge a voice. Whatever the subject was, Orachu emitted a stunned, "I''ll remember that," and dipped his head as he pushed on. The pink crystal swaivshon disappeared in a momentary haze of mist.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The ethereal myrskor fell in beside Mosdrao. He said, "You''re killing me with your tales of exploring, Mosdrao! I don''t want my pantheon room¡¯s sculpture of you to be my first memorial sculpture! Don''t make me go through that! Just stay home this time!"


    Mosdrao tilted his head away from the myrskor with a grimace as he asked, "Wait, how far away is this prediction for?"


    "TWO MONTHS!" said Serafustin, voice changing as she broke character harshly.


    Mosdrao''s jaw dropped. "I''m going to meet someone who goes from zero to statuary in two months?"


    The kalla fell in next to Denziu at that point, but stayed quiet while all eyes were on Mosdrao and the pink crystal myrskor next to him. Returning to a male voice, the ethereal myrskor said, "It''s a mistake, isn''t it? We who live for so long... Who wants to believe in anything quick?"


    Chatulerin said, "Sera, you''re going to mess it up for both of them with this one."


    The ethereal myrskor looked at Chatulerin and said with Serafustin''s voice, "I have to TRY! I can''t predict for Mosdrao, he dies seventy times a century!"


    Mosdrao flinched and said, "But I haven''t died even once!"


    The pink crystal myrskor reared up in a lightning fast motion and Mosdrao yelped, leaping a step away and staggering in his harness. The whole caravan slowed momentarily and flowed around to avoid anyone crashing into each other as Mosdrao caught himself and resumed his position in the rows. "What was that for?" he demanded, and Denziu saw a small bleeding cut in his shoulder.


    "For dying in so many predictions. You''re a heartbreaker, Mosdrao!" said Serafustin, and then the pink crystal myrskor vanished abruptly in a puff of mist.


    Looking towards the ethereal pink kalla walking next to him, Denziu saw a heavy fur coat and wondered at the kalla''s attire. It looked like a very fine coat, and Denziu hoped that zie was seeing a future buyer for zir pottery. Was this someone zie would meet soon?


    The two walked on for a bit longer without any words being said, as the caravan''s attention started centreing on Denziu in curiosity. Eventually zie asked, "How many times per century do I die?"


    "Not even one, Denziu," said the kalla, speaking in Serafustin''s voice, but gently. "Your Fate goes on for many thousands of years. Too many. It''s too solid to be real."


    "Is that what you needed to tell me?" Denziu asked.


    "Mm. I''m thinking about it," said Serafustin, speaking still as a transparent crystal kalla in a transparent crystal coat. Her hooves clopped as she walked alongside Denziu on the road, and Denziu was fascinated by watching the kalla''s feathers and the fur of her coat sway with her motions despite all being of that same pink crystal.


    After a little silence, Serafustin reached over and flicked the pewter hawk charm that Denziu was wearing. "Can I just have this?" she asked.


    "Go ahead," said Denziu. Zie lifted the strap of the charm over zir head with a hand, and then held it out to Serafustin, who took it.


    "Good, because your mother won''t let anything you hate happen to you. You''ve only been stressing Baggil by carrying this," said the ethereal kalla, wrapping the charm''s strap around her arm tight until she was wearing it like a bracelet with the loose bit of strap clenched between her fingers.


    A soft hooo came from Ekis, past the other side of Denziu.


    "Your mother Praoziu has written you into a corner with her prayers," said Serafustin. "A Fate with no variations is as false as a Fate that branches madly. Beyond that... I keep going back and forth in my head about how much to tell you. Probably better to say less rather than more. Just keep an eye out for this coat, would you? You''ll see it again for sure."


    The pink crystal kalla faded away in a haze of mist.


    "For once, she said less rather than more," said Choave.


    The pink crystal vashael that they saw first suddenly reappeared in a haze next to Choave. "I heard that," she said, frowning intensely at him.


    Choave grunted.


    "Should I make you walk for days in my lovely pink-hued forest?" Serafustin asked, waving a hand broadly across the scenery.


    The whole caravan plodded on a few more steps before Choave said, "Okay, I''ll bite. What kind of dragon burns down my home?"


    "Hah! A kalla," said Serafustin. "But that''s so much less than you would''ve gotten if you''d been nicer to me." She vanished again.


    A haze rose up billowing windlessly across the scene around them, and when it faded away the evening light by which they¡¯d entered Lorilaine had become the first light of morning. Denziu felt rested, just like when zie¡¯d been shunted to morning in Inaildoro.


    They were now standing on an entirely different bit of roadway, where the green grass of Atney met the orange grass of Lorilaine. A trio of what looked like white ceramic tubes with rounded caps stood straight and tall next to the roadway, arranged in a triangle about two metres on each side. Each of them had red ring-shaped protuberances along the top third of its length, and the two on the side facing the border had a "Welcome to Atnypoltiai" sign hung between them with a cord looped over those rings. Some vandal had drawn a line across the part that said¡±poltiai¡±.


    Choave cleared his throat and told the caravan, "And this is why the trade caravans go through Lorilaine year after year after year. When Serafustin is done with you, she shunts you right through."


    Everyone else must have already known that, so he could only have been speaking to Denziu. Zie felt called to answer, and raised zir voice to speak from the middle of the group. ¡°So much for camping in Lorilaine!¡±


    ¡°I was really expecting her to maze us for a day,¡± Choave answered.


    As the caravan crossed over into Atney, Chatulerin raised her voice at Choave, "You really should just be more polite to her!"


    "She is bitter and bossy," said Choave with a proud toss of his head.


    "She wants to protect everyone she meets," countered Chatulerin.


    "Kishka!" said Choave, speaking to the other dragon at the head of the caravan.


    "Yeah, boss?"


    Choave said, "Chatulerin is right. Shush me when we get to Lorilaine on the way back."


    And that was Lorilaine, a three day walk crossed in one skipped night, courtesy of the land god.

 Chapter 18: Atney

    Atney had a strange architecture.  There wasn¡¯t a primary city at any point in the theome, but rather there were clusters of spires all over.  Everyone in Atney lived in a spire, it seemed to Denziu, who saw these looming metal buildings everywhere on the horizon from the theome¡¯s edge.  Most of the spires had skybridges linking them to their immediate neighbours.  There were often secondary structures built up in webbings of support struts between the closest spire neighbours, with two to four spires holding an additional building up off the ground between them.


    There were many dragons flying overhead between spires.  It was obviously a populous theome and equally obviously the buildings were spread apart from each other with the expectation that dragons could fly between them.  There!  A dragon flying low and close enough that Denziu could recognize them for a swaivshon.  The complex antlers gave them away.


    As the caravanners plodded along one road with few turn-offs through a horizon dotted full of spires, Denziu wondered where the ground market was going to be.  They saw only farms and stands of coniferous forest out here.  The short growing season in Atney was in full swing.  A great many of the farmergons were growing hardy northern vegetables such as asparagus, rhubarb, onions, and radishes.  There were also fields full of an impressively bushy plant that Denziu didn''t recognise, but which was apparently a major crop in the area.


    Lorma was enthusiastic on the trail, trying to make them hungry by talking about all the dishes that Atney was known for, but as usual there was no meat in what Lorma highlighted.  Omrezen eventually cut across saying, ¡°Hey Denziu!  Are dragons who don¡¯t hunt really dragons at all?¡±


    Denziu said, ¡°I¡¯ve been helping farmergons for decades!  I¡¯m used to farm produce!¡±


    Mosdrao cried, ¡°A point for Lorma!¡±  Most of the caravan laughed, while Omrezen looked aghast.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Chatulerin, from next to Omrezen.  ¡°I¡¯m sure there are livestock farms here, too.¡±


    Eventually, Denziu saw ahead of them over the road the greatest cluster of spires zie had glimpsed anywhere in Atney.  Here, a confusion of metal rose skywards, with limbs thrust into the ground all around it and great arches of metal holding up stacked layers of buildings in the middle between a dense ring of exterior spires.


    "That''s a city centre!" said Denziu, shocked by the construct.


    "Locally, yes," said Ekis.  "This place is named Akima.  It must have consumed a fantastic amount of metal while it was being built."


    An unusual voice piped up to speak then, as from the row of the caravan behind them Honom of Mosdenechrak said, "I think the swaivshon architects have their own secret to producing the metal that they build with."


    Ekis called back, "I''m not sure about that!  I think they use some kind of vrash-boosted alloying trick."


    Lorma said, "Kalla!  It''s the kalla.  There are kalla metal-working enclaves that don''t trade on the open market."


    "And how do you know about that?" asked Ekis.


    "Oh...  Er, I don''t," said Lorma.  "But I know that the kalla have unburnable hands and can create staggering forgeworks by focusing their gift."


    Honom said, "Isn''t being fireproof the swaivshon''s own gift?  Maybe they do their own metal-working."


    "Iceproof, too," said Lorma.  "Swaivshon resist everything.  Maybe you''re right!"


    It was a lively conversation that held up for a while.  The secret super-alloys used to create the spires of Atney were a mystery that Denziu hadn''t thought to question, but apparently it was a big question.  How did the dragons of Atney create such amazingly vertical structures?


    This was apparently one of the great mysteries of Kelkaith in general.  Swaivshon architecture was impressive in all of their theomes, but the methods and alloys used by swaivshon builders were unknown.


    Meanwhile, the most impressive building that Denziu had ever seen continued to loom closer and closer.  Zie got the feeling that the ''ground market'' was actually the lowest level of a complex of buildings that could be ascended.  As they approached, they passed a community of spire-homes near the road that were shorter than the average without skybridges linking them, and these had at their base izerah and a few kalla running about.  It looked like this rare ground community of Atney was their home.  The presence of a groundbounder community further strengthened Denziu''s expectation that the looming complex of many spires and stacked layers of buildings was the "city centre" of Atney.  Izerah settled everywhere.


    As they passed alongside one of the great support arches for the vertical city, Denziu looked up and saw that a flight of stairs went along the top of the support arch.  Were there more stairs inside the great cluster-building, Akima?  For this was surely a great city on the vertical...  A small, sardonic part of Denziu wondered, Is Atney the Theome of Stairs?


    The central area had a great opening looming over the road ahead of them, but Choave directed the caravan off the main path to yet another caravanserai.  The domed structure of the caravanserai under Akima was by no means small, as it was intended to house potentially several caravans of dragons and their wagons, but it looked bizarrely tiny with one of the great support arches stretching over it.


    This was another caravanserai with an eatery inside of it, and unlike the great rates at Mosdenechrak, here the foods were moderately pricey.  Choave authorised a general disbursement from the caravan fund for eating on, and Oghai handed out pouches of coins to the caravanners as they got unhooked in the wagon berths.


    Denziu bought a garlic pepper stew and a fish fillet, and was surprised when Choave bought a bowl and brought it to Denziu''s table.  "We got here a bit faster without Serafustin mazing us for a day, and I''ll admit that''s my fault we''ve ''ad a risk of it," said Choave, gesturing with an unused spoon.  "We''ll be here an extra day for you to use.  Two days of the Atney market."


    "I wish I knew more about how to sell fine pottery," said Denziu.  "Do you know any art vendorgons in Atney?"


    "I don''t know any art vendorgons anywhere," said Choave, dropping his spoon into his stew bowl.  "I do know that Hydalath is still your best bet, but if you carry your wagon aloft, you can at least take it to the top-market here.  Among the magic-item vendorgons up there, you should be able to find dragons with the budget to buy a fine pot.  Oh, but I wanted to tell you not to bother opening your box of warming tiles."


    "Why not?" asked Denziu.


    "They''re a local good in Atney.  A substantial export.  Commonly worn as jewellery here, even."


    Denziu perked up interestedly.  "I''m surprised the farmergons don''t use them to grow southern crops," zie said, thinking about all the effort vrash farmergons in Tekagol went to in order to have perfect soil conditions.


    Choave blinked, then shook his head.  "They''re not that cheap!¡±  He huffed a brief laugh and then continued, ¡°There are so many fliers in the area who''ll carry a charm pouch that the price is up for every theome in the area that buys them for winter safety.  So they''re probably too expensive to bother restocking on, even though they¡¯re a poor profit for the selling."


    After they ate, Denziu set out at once to do an overflight of the stacked structure, this vertical city at the heart of Atney.  Zie left zir wagon behind at first rather than be encumbered by it.  The city was so surrounded by balconies that they seemed to fan open from the sides of it like a strange plant, and surely every level could be accessed that way by a flyer circling the building.  (Denziu was not alone in the air!)  The spires that held the interior up were fairly close together, so that Akima was really like one structure overall and not like the clusters of them which seemed to predominate elsewhere in Atney.  It was truly gigantic!  This was a singular place for countless dragons to meet and do business.


    It was all achieved in white metal with red accents; Akima''s exterior was all in the same white and the same red as had been the little posts which had a "Welcome to Atnypoltiai" sign hanging from them next to the road into the theome from Lorilaine.  Denziu imagined this white and this red to be an iconic colour scheme in Atney.


    The top layer of the structure was an open market with wide balconies, a final bloom atop the strange plant.  There were lots of dragons with stalls at the market.  The aisles between the stalls were full of browsing dragons.  Almost everyone present was a vashael, vrash, or swaivshon, but Denziu could see great big stairways leading down into the vertical city-structure.  Zie assumed that meant it was theoretically possible to make it all the way up here from the ground floor without wings.


    Denziu landed on one of the balconies and was immediately surrounded by an impression of being priced out of everything.  There were magic artefacts on half the stalls here.  The remainder were all selling either enchantments or exotics.  There was a blotchy green vashael selling spices from a floating cart!  This was clearly a long-distance flyer''s market for wealthy travellers to buy and sell at.


    If zie had been there for zirself, looking around would have been instant rejection.  None of this was within the budget of a merchantgon trading in soil.


    Being there to trade in warming enchantments and exotic pottery, it was reassuring.  Choave was right.  This place might be able to make the exchanges that Denziu was looking for.  Zir flying wagon would fit right in here, and zie felt proud of zir vest with its colourful ceramic bands.


    Denziu noticed as zie went through the market that many of the dragons faintly steamed in the cold.  Warming spelltiles adorned many necks.  In the crowd of warmth-emitting dragons, the trick of wandering until finding the hot stall didn''t work.  Denziu had to ask at several stalls selling amulets to find one that sold warming tiles.


    Sure enough, Choave''s warning was apt.  The price wasn''t prohibitive, but it wasn''t appealing either.  Still, Denziu bought three!  If there were flyers with charm pouches using this place to eke a small profit out on the wing, the price was logically still good enough for a small profit.  Zie would''ve bought more, but enchantments were a painful thing to speculate on.


    Pouching zir three new warming amulets, Denziu flew back down to the caravanserai at the foot of the vertical structure and returned to zir wagon.  With a brief prayer to Radath (who was the land god of Atney) for the preservation of zir warming spell tiles, zie opened the necromantic box in which zie had been storing them, and stashed the three warming amulets with the last few warming spell tiles.


    Denziu spared a thought to wonder how far away dragons flew with charm pouches.  They were presumably the same kind of thing as necromantic boxes, and likewise therefore enchanted to prevent spontaneous disenchantment of magic items while moving between theomes.  An hour on the wing would fly over a smaller theome entirely.  How far away did the local warming amulets travel?


    Hydalath was four hours'' flight from Atney... and ten days walk!  They wouldn¡¯t outrange the flying charm traders.  If flying wagons were not wildly expensive...  Denziu imagined that despite the expense, they might take over trade someday.


    Zie spoke to Lorvaza at the caravanserai, proposing that the two of them mount to the top market to sell fate-charms with the other merchantgons selling enchantments.  She agreed and the two of them loaded charms onto Denziu¡¯s wagon, then ascended.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Even with a business partner on the wing, Denziu still thought about the business potential of flying wagons.  If it weren''t for zir inexperience as a merchantgon, the decision to freepact with Choave might be inexcusable from a profit perspective.  Zie could clearly do better by flying between destinations.


    Strictly speaking, running food to the deep-under with Ekis shouldn''t turn as much of a profit as, say, running metal via flying wagon.  Zie could carry ingots far from mines.  It wouldn¡¯t take an unmanageable amount of working capital to get started as a metal trader, and zie¡¯d be able to run deliveries out to every individual blacksmith.


    Yet Denziu wasn''t likely to do it.  Zie wasn''t really trying to maximise zir profits, zie had to admit to zirself.  Zie was just trying to have a profit while doing something new and interesting.  Ekis'' plan to travel to and from the deep-under with surface foods was surely more exciting than a scheme to fly back and forth across known surface lands.


    The top-market in Akima was a crowded place.  Drawn from zir thoughts by business reality, Denziu and Lorvaza circled the top of Akima looking for a place to set up shop.  There was such an active market here!  Dragons must be flying in from great distances.  Denziu took a place on the edge of one of Akima''s blooming balconies.  It didn¡¯t look like it was intended as a place to set up shop, so hoped zie wouldn''t meet an official of the city looking to rebuke zir opportunism.


    Unfolding zir wagon and piking up its top for a shop-tent, Denziu stood in front of it with zir vendorgon vest worn proudly as zie looked around at passers-by.


    "Finest pottery of distant Denxalue," zie called to dragons passing by.  "Pieces named and dated; own a piece of art history!"  There was wealth enough here to buy out all zir pottery, zie could tell!


    Wealth enough, but...


    A day of fruitless hawking eventually turned up revelatory conversations.  There was a major problem with selling pottery here.  The visitors to Akima arrived on the wing and departed on the wing.  What dragon would carry a painted pot through the air?


    With one of these conversants, who was especially interested, Denziu agreed to close up shop to sell a pot to a pastel pink swaivshon.  Zir departure was the occasion of a minor argument with Lorvaza, but though Denziu cringed at taking away Lorvaza''s platform on a day that had been promising for the selling of enchanted fate-charms, zie was very dedicated to selling away the pottery which had brought zir out of Denxalue to the Tachanigh-Kelkaith in the first place.


    Lorvaza eventually snorted and departed for the caravanserai while Denziu departed with the flying wagon, and thank the land gods for all their work on Fate, that beautiful pink swaivshon stayed patiently waiting until Denziu could accompany her home.


    They flew a few minutes from Akima to a cluster of three spires.  There was a triangular building that perched on arches in the middle of the three-spire triangle.  Zie could see on approach that there was a great platform atop that in turn, blooming past the spires like a miniature form of Akima''s top market with its broad, welcoming balconies.  Denziu landed there with zir wagon.  As zie opened the wagon up again, zie was swarmed by the residents as they examined the pottery together.  A dozen dragons - Vashael, Vrash, and Swaivshon - shared the three spires as a single communal house.


    The swarm of dragons bustled over the pots that Denziu showed them.  The vistas of the swamp, so little loved by the merchantgons who passed through Denxalue buying painted pottery as though it were unmarked, finally here in Atney got treated as proper artwork!


    As Denziu was setting out the pewter placards struck with artist names and months-of-manufacturing, zie boasted, "I spent years picking up scarcely more than one pot per year to assemble this collection.  I was always searching for the most memorably excellent.¡±


    "Scarcely more than one pot per year, you say!  Why so few pots to show for that?" asked one of the customers, a blue vashael with purple fins.


    "The pottergons in Denxalue are used to being taken for granted, and don''t always put their best work in.  Many of the pots made by the artists who produced these were of varying quality in the paints," said Denziu.  "I was looking for that fraction of their work getting criminally underappreciated even by the artists."


    "Oh, you mean work you were getting charged wholesale for!" said another of the group, a grey-black vrash, setting off laughter in the group.


    "Yes, but for years!" said Denziu, anxious that they were trying to bargain zir down by revealing that.  "If I can boost the legend of these artists, they''ll have a greater prosperity at home someday, too."


    "They should work more consistently, and then you wouldn''t have to work so long and ask such a high price," said the pastel pink swaivshon with a confident grace in the carriage of her neck.


    "Then buy another," said Denziu, "And I will give you a lower price.  I''ve carried these across two continents though.  Denxalue is by the southern tip of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith."


    They did not buy two pots.  Instead they dithered for a long time, very certain they were going to buy one pot or another.  One of them was a muddy green colour, depicting a dragon poling a boat in the wilderness of Denxalue, and another one in fiery red on a sky blue base depicting Raul in the sky of Zyrine.  Raul!  A vast flaming sigil in the sky over the clifftop city, with a proud bit of city skyline depicted at the bottom third of the pot...  It was a vista that Denziu had seen many times when visiting Zyrine, but which was new and bizarre to the swaivshon of Atney.


    At length they picked the pot that depicted Raul in the sky of Zyrine, and gave Denziu the most exceptional price zie had gotten so far, so that Denziu trembled with excitement at the thought of bringing news of the pot''s sale back to the artist in Denxalue.


    When negotiations had concluded and Denziu had stashed away their coin in zir wagon, they gave zir an invite to stay for dinner that evening, and Denziu was happy to accept.  Zie watched then as the purple-finned vashael carried the pot to a place in their central gallery.  Half the swarm stuck around, tugging Denziu around the gallery regaling zir with all the stories of the pieces of artwork their little three-spire community had collected.


    Zie found these dragons surprisingly tactile, so that all through talking about the artwork zie was feeling other dragons touching zir sides, zir neck, and zir tail.  Denziu was eventually drawn into a soft room for a bit of overt cuddling while they waited for dinner to cook.


    Personal space was restored by a call from the kitchen, and they shared plates while Denziu assured the group yet again that yes, the picture of a flaming sigil in the sky over a city was a literally depicted view not far southeast of Denxalue.  They had never seen a land god such as the sky-dwelling Raul.


    When Denziu had nearly finished eating and offered zir compliments to the chef, zie offered over zir plate a sincere invitation to the group to come visit Nidrio.  This didn''t have the impact that Denziu was accustomed to closer to home; none of these dragons recognised Nidrio as a former sacred wilderness, but thought that Denziu was politely referring to zir home theome near Denxalue.  Nothing more!


    Zie had been looking to set off a momentary frisson of scandalised interest that would develop into Denziu telling them zir father''s tale: Taisach, whose simple love of the verdant mountains of Nidrio earned the love of the formerly murderous land god Praoziu.  It was a good story and a strange origin, so Denziu forthrightly said zir mother was Praoziu, land god of Nidrio, and got to tell the tale from that starting point instead.  There was some interest in actually visiting Nidrio after that!


    Bidding farewell to dragons zie hoped would be future friends, Denziu departed back to Akima giddily reduced to five of the great painted storage pots in the wagon.


    That evening, clouds scudded in thickly overhead so that there was no sunset, only a dimming of the grey sky.


    They were here somewhat upland of the river Lorniven, and the many spires of the dispersed community of Atney were in the low forested hills of the Serhin Range.  Rain and melt streams from this altitude created the Lorniven, which was a famed swift river though hardly navigable for most of its length.


    They had little concern of rain under Akima, but Denziu was concerned that poor weather might suppress business at the top market.  For what dragon wishes to fly and get sodden?  The temptation to put off one''s business for the next day must be very tempting to all of the dragons who visit the top market for luxuries.  All the moreso that should they wish to avoid ruining expensive purchases, after all.


    The weather the next morning was just as the evening had promised, with drizzling rain that was better news for the farmergons of Atney than vendorgons doing their business on the open upper deck.


    Denziu spoke to Lorvaza that next morning.  Over salads heavy on sliced roasted beets from Lorma¡¯s stock, they talked about the top market.  "I''m sorry again for departing like that," Denziu said.


    "It''ll be a less rude surprise the second time," said Lorvaza.  "I''m willing to do it again.  A few hours in the top-market is better for fate-charms than all day in the dingy interior marketspace I''ve used on other trips to Akima!"


    "Do you think it''s worth going to the top market despite the rain?" asked Denziu.


    "I think so, though business might be slower.  We still need to get out there at every opportunity.  I''m glad your wagon comes with enough fabric to tent over our heads from the rain."


    So they went topside again, and spent another day hawking pottery and minor enchantments.  The crowds were considerably reduced today on a day when the rain dripped into the gutters of Akima and was directed by spouts off the top of the building.


    "Finest pottery, shipping covered!" called Denziu into the wealthy top market, eyes chasing every passerby in hopes of drawing their attention.  "Free shipping, anywhere in Atney or Ediveyrm!"


    This last was a local theome of Denziu''s knowledge.  Shipping to Ediverym would involve a hard, high flight of over an hour each way crossing the Serhin Range, but it was a famous place that Denziu wanted to be clear zie would work hard to fulfil orders to.  Just in case someone was visiting Atney from Ediveyrm!


    Denziu would have called other theomes in the vicinity as well just to make sure that others understood that zie was willing to fly an hour or more to get their new pottery home, but in truth zie did not know the names of the other nearby theomes.


    In any case, it was futile.  Lorvaza did a good business all day, selling from her chest of fate-charms, but Denziu sold not a single pot.  Zie suspected that the clearance rate of very fine pottery was too slow to make a good fuel for a travelling vendorgon to work from, and felt ridiculous for having embarked on this quest.


    Zie was keenly aware that day that zie was depending on a stroke of luck: that there would be a vendorgon dealing in art objects in Hydalath that zie could find and meet during the day that zie would have at market.  Zie thought zie might break with the caravan at that point, disentangling zir Fate from their Tekagoli charms and going zir own way.  If Denziu couldn''t find a dealer in artwork, or if Denziu found one and could not sell the rest of zir pots...  The pots were good enough!  They had been elevated from mere clay and pigment to become artwork.  The problem was, zie knew of no single point of sale where a wagonload of artwork could be offloaded reliably.


    Near the close of the market that day, a frustrated Denziu went down to all fours and clawed at the air before zir wagon.


    "Don''t go feral now," said a bemused Lorvaza.  "That''s a bad look for a vendorgon."


    Denziu stood again, properly standing as a vashael should, up on zir hind legs.  Yet zie sighed, and zir posture still drooped.  "I don''t want to carry these pots back home again after our journey."


    "Sell them as pottery then, if you have to.  Paints or no paints, they''re still stoneware storage vessels.  But I think you should hold on until Evonthe.  Your sales pitch about holding a piece of art history might appeal to the curators of Evonthe, or the art-hungry dragons who live there," said Lorvaza.  "They''ll have Grezavent bending over to bless you for that."


    ¡°Grezavent?¡± asked Denziu.


    ¡°Evonthe¡¯s land god, Grezavent.  They¡¯re not quite on the Tachanigh-Kelkaith, are they?  You must have missed reading about them.¡±


    "The caravan isn''t stopping in Evonthe though, is it?" asked Denziu.


    "You may want to break away from us there," said Lorvaza ruefully.  "There''s nothing you need at Wraquo if your priority is to have a market day at Evonthe instead."


    "Frightful," said Denziu.  "We might get separated.  I''m a long way from home."


    "Only a few days hard flight, worst case," said Lorvaza.  "You can get back to Tekagol with four days of straight-line flight due south from Smaril, and for a vashael there''s no question that the wind will cooperate."


    Denziu thought about it.  There were no other dragons browsing right now, and a few of the other merchantgons were already grumbling and closing up their stalls.


    "I bet I could identify you on the road from a long distance away," said Denziu, imagining the caravan''s 2x6 line on the roads, short just one element without zir own wagon.


    Lorvaza smiled and said, "That''s the right spirit!  Just join up with us afterwards."


    That was when Denziu decided that zie would stay with the caravan until they departed from Jiasote, then separate from them to visit Evonthe.


    That evening, Lorma the Vegetarian came to the caravan with two crates of food while crossing Tirrtian Pass, and Orachu the Unambitious surprised the crew by showing up with one of his own.  They all eschewed the pricey caravanserai eatery in favour of a mixture of green onion rolls from Lorma and steak and kidney pasties from Orachu.  Most of them were quietly of the opinion that Orachu understood the desires of the caravanners better than Lorma, but Denziu thought the green onion rolls were glutinously exquisite and wonderfully spicy.  Nibbling on one and trying to make it last, zie wondered if someday vegetarianism would be more common among dragons.

 Chapter 19: Tirrtian

    Three days travel along a road in a wide open gap between the mountains of the otherwise unbroken Serhin Range: that was Tirrtian Pass.  There were other minor gaps and notches in the mountains that travellers could cross over, but Tirrtian Pass was broad enough to build a city in and easy enough to verge on flatlands.  At its broadest point, it could take a day to walk from one side of the pass to the other!


    Still, the land visibly humped up towards mountains to either side of the caravan.  The horizon here was thrown to the sky by rocky upwellings from the earth.  The far side peaks seemed fewer yet even more impressive than the larger count of near-side peaks.


    These mountains - the Serhin Range - were a grand barrier between the hard climates of north-central Kelkaith and the cold-but-maritime climates of south-central Kelkaith.  This was the point where the great world maps transitioned between drawing the world in green and drawing them in white.


    There were no cities built up in Tirrtian just yet, though Denziu wondered if someday there would be a great city thriving from trade.  There were plenty of merchantgons passing through who might need services.


    Not that they would, it seemed.  They had plenty of food; Lorma had even thrown out some perishables for spoilage.  The group¡¯s twice-blessed wagons had given them no trouble along the way.  Denziu suspected that was abnormal for a Tekagoli caravan, because there''d been a grumble from Mosdrao that morning that the group was usually behind schedule by this point.


    Denziu thought of Serafustin taking zir luck charm.  Was zie still a Tekagoli merchantgon?  Had zie ever been one?  If Praoziu was leaning on all the other land gods to protect Denziu¡¯s Fate, were any of them really Tekagoli merchantgons this time?  Maybe their perfect schedule arose from Praoziu¡¯s interference.


    Denziu had little choice but to think silently during the ascent.  These were some of the most unpleasant days in the route.  Denziu was not lashed to a great weight, but the others drew wagons with wood piled high on them¡­ and they got rained on as they climbed the pass.


    When they took a break to pass around bread, they ate it damp.


    They ate a lot of bread those three days walking in the hills under the mountains that filled the horizon to each side of Tirrtian Pass.  The loaves of bread that Choave had bought in Velrilari came back, and there were still green onion rolls.  Bread could be eaten with only the briefest of stops, and they needed the energy for hauling uphill.


    They also had dried meat and steak and kidney pasties, at least.  They had eggs in the morning and the evening as well, a great supply of ten dozen having been bought at Akima.  There was no shortage of food.


    Lorma ate from a private stockpile on her own wagon, Denziu noticed, when the others were breaking out the meats.  Everyone else loved the steak and kidney pasties so much that Denziu decided to waive them on so someone else could have a second one.  Zie asked Lorma for vegetarian options instead.


    So it was that they had asparagus and rhubarb salad that first evening, and with Denziu''s encouragement there arose enough interest that the ingredients were exhausted by the caravanners.  They had grilled artichokes on the second evening, and again Denziu''s participation drew more and more of the caravanners into grilling artichokes until Lorma ran out of them.  They had cherry tomatoes, beets, and a reconstituted dry soup the third evening, this being the last thing stocked in Lorma''s private stockpile, and with a great big grin she chastised Denziu for encouraging the whole caravan to stick their snouts in.


    It wasn¡¯t as good as eating meat and the vegetable dinners left Denziu feeling bloated, but it was fun to make Lorma smile.


    As for the terrain...  Denziu''s ability to sightsee was ruined by the weather.  They were travelling north under a front that was still pushing into the relative highlands of the pass and it looked like the weather was Fated to do its best at raining them out.  It was cold.  Denziu loved the outdoors even less for being rained on all day.  Zir wind shield helped a little in scattering raindrops, but an awful lot of rain still went straight through it, including every especially fat droplet of water.


    The next day?  More rain.  Hiking uphill all day was loathsome work even to Denziu, whose wagon was not a burden.  The others did not talk save occasionally to curse.  Even Ekis was silent to avoid antagonising the others.  Only when they stopped to rest did moods recover.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    They were passed that day by a wagon train loaded down with lighter goods.  Choave¡¯s blessing had kept them faster than other caravans all the way through the route, but that second day in the pass someone passed them instead.  Sacks of some kind heaped high on every wagon underneath the covered tops, and Denziu thought they might be food merchantgons carrying the most ubiquitous import north.


    Dragons are hard to harm with the weather, but they are not always happy about it.  The vashael were more afflicted than the vrash, for the vrash were all attired, and it is a trait innate to the vrash that they enchant their clothing to shed the filth and damp.  So the vrash kept something dry to their scales, and the vashael by contrast had only their friendly wind to guard them from the inclement weather.


    To have the friendly wind wick away the water was to be chilled by it, and it was an unpleasant decision to be made moment to moment.  Denziu longed for sunshine to radiate across zir scales.  Zie thought that zie might buy in Sybanisk an outfit of warm, waterproof clothing enchanted to imitate the vrash innate ability.


    If zie did that, it would be embarrassing to wear.  There were vashael who could stand in the snow like swaivshon, wearing only a pair of goggles to guard against the snowblindness that could set in for so much of the year in northern Kelkaith.  Long practice of living day-to-day without clothing had convinced Denziu to imagine zie would do that, and zie had not packed a single outfit on the outbound journey.  To fantasise about wearing attire was to imagine giving something up.


    Denziu imagined that zie would.


    That day, cursing the cold rain in Tirrtian Pass, Denziu very much imagined that zie would give up on being a nudist in Kelkaith.


    Two days climbing a pass in the rain convinced zir that they were still Tekagoli merchantgons.


    The rain broke on the third day.  The skies cleared over them.


    Denziu looked out across the grassy hills of Tirrtian Pass and felt guilty for still not caring much about the beautiful wilderness.  The endless fields rolled by beyond the wagon, grassy but for the occasional conifer.  Even the view ahead down over Kelkaith did not move zir.  Zie could see as much or better on the wing.


    The wind waved the grass and did not touch Denziu, who was shielded under an innate vashael wind shield.  It would have been a chilling wind anyways.  All the winds from here on out would be chilling winds.  The friendly wind of the vashael was credited with making them more tolerant of the cold north.


    Their third day in Tirrtian Pass took them steadily downhill.  Instead of grunting with the effort of pulling the metals, they instead were slowed by stiffly resisting the inclination of the wagons to roll downhill.  The weight of the wagon pressed on them.


    The muscles required to hold back a wagon were less exercised than those required to pull it, slowing the others and drawing the occasional groan out of them.  They didn¡¯t get nearly as far as usual that day.


    Denziu had an easy day, walking at the pace that everyone else kept with zir floating wagon behind zir.


    Sybanisk!  They could see it ahead of them every time the caravan paused for a rest.  It dominated the forward northern horizon past the mountains of the Serhin Range.  These views snatched north over toothsome green onion rolls were Denziu''s first glimpse of the far north.


    It was white on maps, but it wasn¡¯t snowy in this season.  It was from here a great grassy plains, grown thick with the summer.  The grasslands looked hardier than they were verdant, with the purples and browns of aridity-tolerant plants thrusted up from occasionally patchy grasses.  Yet green there still was, and Denziu suspected (as only a soil-seller could) that the hump of the landscape in Tirrtian Pass wasn''t brutally elevated enough to wring the clouds dry reliably.


    Even without the rain, it was a long, slow day of walking with the caravan.  Denziu was afraid to even make conversation with Ekis for fear of upsetting the others, while Oghai¡¯s encouraging chatter filled the relative silence.


    Zie thought about things that were hard to discuss with the others.  It was the safe thing to think about.  No temptation to speak and remind the others that Denziu was having an easy day.  Ekis, Denziu imagined, must be doing the same thing alongside zir, for the usually talkative and energetic izerah was quiet.


    Zie thought again about encountering Taioma in Inaildoro.  The midnight feast, the cookies for the caravan the next day, and Taioma''s disappointed claim that night that she''d hoped to summon a cake.  What kind of cake would that have been?


    But oh, Taioma''s decayed appearance!  Stabilised rot, a well-preserved zombie of a dragon.  What was so bad about Fate under the land gods that necromancers died to change it?  What a bizarre and revolting decision.  What was so bad about being lesser divinities that they rejected the greater divinity of the land gods?  What was Taioma¡¯s story, if a zombie could reject the land gods far enough to die of it, and then go back to being a geomancer?


    ''Lesser divinity''...  The books of Querent-Querent were steadfast in using the phrase to refer to ordinary dragons.  Denziu wondered what kind of ''god'' zie was.  Nobody had ever built a shrine to Denziu, zie thought... and then thought better of it, for likely zir mother Praoziu had done it.  Serafustin had said that Denziu had been ''written into a corner'' by Praoziu''s prayers.  Praoziu must be tying herself into a knot with worry, Denziu thought with a sinking stomach.


    These thoughts and many others filled Denziu''s ever-active mind in a long, slow day of walking at a less ambitious pace, while the caravanners went downhill into Sybanisk.

 Chapter 20: Sybanisk

    As the land levelled out the next day, there was still some groaning from the merchantgon caravanners, for a day of holding their wagons back while descending had left them sore even as they returned to their normal pulling.  Yet they resumed their usual pace, somewhat ambitious in their confidence of good health of body and wagon, and soon they had a morning meal at a trade outpost on the southern edge of Sybanisk.


    "There are five towns in Sybanisk," Choave said to a table over a breakfast of meaty onion soup that had been ladled out by a bored blue vohntrai who was ever so slightly transparent.  The soup meat was chewy and somehow bland; Denziu thought it an unpleasant early encounter with the fatty meats of northern Kelkaith.  "Five towns," Choave said, mopping soup from his snout.  "One at each ''side'' of Sybanisk.  This is the southernmost of them, so welcome to South Sybanisk.  The others are northeast, north, northwest, and central.  We''ll be stopping over at Central Sybanisk and North Sybanisk."


    Half of the caravan was seated at the same table to hear this, but as usual the real recipient was Denziu.  "Pretty straightforward town names!" said Denziu.


    "They''re descriptive," said Choave.


    "The Snowmelt Museum is in Central Sybanisk, by the way," said Mosdrao of Jiasote.  "We aren''t spending a market day here, but if you''re ever here under your own power, look there and you should be able to see the Museum from afar in the air."


    "Do we have anything on the itinerary besides passing through at a good clip?" asked Denziu, thinking of zir plan to buy clothing at the trade posts in Sybanisk.


    Choave shook his head.  "No, we do not.  Although the pace shouldn''t be too brutal today and tomorrow.  We''ll walk a good two hours less than we usually do, reaching our next lodgings at Central Sybanisk today and then North Sybanisk tomorrow.  If you''ve enough energy, you''ll have a bit of the afternoon left when we get to Central."


    Chatulerin the Calculator spoke up then, saying, "I plan to spend some time in the library."  She looked towards Denziu and added, "There''s a small library outpost at every town in Sybanisk."


    "I think Chotain favours them," said Choave, and Denziu perked.  Chotain!  Denziu instantly inferred that Chotain must be the name of the local land god.


    "I favour this soup," said Omrezen the Hunter, licking her lips.  "I''ll be right back."  And she went off to get the bowl filled again, walking three-legged to clutch the bowl to herself, as vrash must do when carrying an object.


    "Well.  I''m glad she does, but I don''t," said Orachu the Unambitious in a mournful voice, looking down at a partial bowl as Omrezen walked up.  He looked up across the table.  "Lorma, do you have any of those green onion rolls left?"


    "Only a few," said Lorma cheerfully.  "I''ll be right back, but if there''s any demand you may have to dice for them."  She stepped away from the table to fetch the green onion rolls.


    Dicing!  Petty geomancy, Denziu thought with a smile.  Asking Fate who should have the last few rolls by rolling dice for them.  "I wonder if the land gods ever get annoyed at dragons breaking out dice to ask them minor questions," said Denziu.


    Laughing, Choave said, "P-pious of you, Denziu!"


    "I don''t think they notice," said Orachu.


    "Dice work in missing theomes too," said Chatulerin.  "However they work in missing theomes, that¡¯s probably how they work in theomes with a land god."


    It turned out that most of the table would have liked a green onion roll, with only Omrezen abstaining, but there were only three rolls left to six dragons at the table.  It was generally agreed that one should be reserved to Orachu, as it would be rude and sad to deny a roll to the one who had asked for the rolls to be brought out.  As he bit into the roll gratefully, Lorma stepped out of the running voluntarily, saying it was a pleasure just to see the rolls appreciated.  That left Denziu, Chatulerin, and Choave throwing dice for the remaining two rolls.


    The three contestants pushed their soup bowls aside.  Choave drew out of a pouch a trio of clear crystals cut into regular shapes and with little divots carved into them.  Dice, of course, with six sides and each opposing side adding up to 7.  They were the same all the world over.  And they were beautiful, Denziu thought.  These were cut out of clear quartz.


    Chatulerin threw a die, and got a four.


    Choave threw a die, and got a four.


    Denziu threw last, having hesitated to admire the beautiful clear quartz cube of the die itself.  When zie threw the die, it came up on five.


    The three dragons leaned in over the table to look at the dice they''d tossed towards each other.  Choave swept up two of the dice (Denziu''s included), and there was a general rumble of cheer as Lorma handed out one of the last two rolls to Denziu.


    Then Chatulerin and Choave threw dice again.  Chatulerin''s die came up on one.  Choave''s came up with three pips upwards.


    Lorma gave the last of the green onion rolls to Choave, saying happily as she did, "I knew these would be appreciated."


    When they had finished eating, there was nothing left to do in South Sybanisk other than harness themselves and get moving again.  The caravan moved on, 2 by 6, Sharisen pulling Oghai¡¯s carriage behind the rest.


    Sybanisk was a tundra with a lot of life in it, sweet-scented with all the heather that butted up against the road.  There were other flowers as well, a riotous natural garden with clusters of little yellow flowers here, bushes covered in bright purple flowers there, and occasionally a few beautiful green plants hoisting up globular white flower clusters into the air as if begging for pollinators to notice them.  Pale purple bottlebrushes grew in stands as well, choking out other plantlife for several metres at a stretch with crowds of fuzzy sticks of floral life.


    "Chotain must love flowers," Denziu commented to Ekis.


    Ekis said, "This place is famed for floral culture.  Do you know much about Sybanisk?"


    "Almost nothing," Denziu admitted.


    "This is ''the Snowmelt theome'', caught in a loop of perpetual springtimes.  So there are always spring flowers growing, and dying in the cold, and then growing again.  They grow fast, so they''re harvested often.  But the constantly cycling season means it is NEVER summer here.  That''s why we''re cold here right now," said Ekis, and she was right.  It was cold.


    Denziu knew that a lot of dragons lived in the far north, but zie was increasingly confused by that, as zie badly wanted to not be nearly-naked in this territory.  The vendorgon vest that zie''d bought was wholly inadequate.  The next thing Ekis said only made Denziu''s shivers worse: "We''re lucky to not get snowed on, and we still might be as it looks like the latest ''spring'' is near its end with how overgrown it¡¯s getting."


    "I''m going to rush to the market and buy something warm to wear when we get to Central Sybanisk," said Denziu bitterly.


    "You know, if you''re being overwhelmed by cold...  These wagons are very light," said Ekis.  "If we stop for a moment and tie your wagon in train to someone else''s burden, you can fly ahead to get proper dress."


    "Should we do that?" asked Denziu.


    Ekis nodded and said, "Yes, it would be safest to do that.  It isn''t healthy to be shivering constantly, and you might get sick if the weather turns much worse."


    "I''ll wait until the next time the caravan stops for a bite to eat," said Denziu, thinking of the various breads, pasties, and dried meats that the caravanners had carried for lunchtimes on the road.  (They were far from exhausting the honey bought in Rhianasril, too.)  They didn''t break this way for some time, but well before they reached Central Sybanisk there was a moment when they stopped.


    When that happened, Denziu went to the head of the caravan and pled the cold to Choave, who laughed and told Denziu to claim one of zir warming amulets and wear it.  "I know you''ve been selling warming spells, Denziu!" said Choave, still greatly amused.


    "Won''t it disenchant with all the theome crossings that we''re doing?" said Denziu.


    "I don''t think those amulets offend any land god in the north," said Choave.  "They give a warm aura to countless vashael!  You know, your wind aura can chill bystanders if you''re not wearing one of those."


    "Would you buy one off of me, then?  You¡¯d be a warm presence in the cold north," said Denziu, struck by the hope to make a sale.


    "Hah!  I suppose I could," said Choave.  "Although it will disenchant eventually, despite what I said.  It¡¯s an annual good to someone like me.  Here, we should both be wearing one."


    One warming amulet sold, and another became Denziu¡¯s own.  In this way Denziu remained almost a nudist in Kelkaith, but became a presence that warmed everyone in reach of zir amicus breeze.


    At Central Sybanisk, Denziu eschewed the clothing market and joined Mosdrao for an evening service at the temple to Gruent instead.  It was a humble structure with red-painted exterior walls and a hall in its white-painted interior with seating marked by little boxy stands that held up two sheets of paper each.  The hall and its stands led up to a pulpit on a small platform.  Dragons sat before the little stands in orderly rows, many of them wearing fate-charms on their necks (vrash and a veserus), wrists (vashael), or both (three izerah and a kalla).  Denziu saw and felt a goodly number of warming amulets.


    The veserus in the crowd was an aquatic dragon and quite an unusual sight, but this was no moment to stare.  Besides, a third of the room were wearing blindfolds.  That was far more bizarre.


    Shortly after Mosdrao and Denziu arrived, a green-feathered kalla walked up the central aisle dressed in a white robe, her hooves clattering with every step upon the wooden floor.  She climbed to the pulpit, faced the crowd, and raised her arms to them.  "We gather in gratitude!" she said.  "Praise to the healer and the bringer of peace!"


    "Praise to the healer and the bringer of peace," said the crowd, including Mosdrao.  Denziu stayed silent, observing without the familiarity of the proceedings.


    "Let us open today in song!" said the kalla priestess.  "Grasp your songsheets, and let us sing together!"


    This Denziu went along with, for this was the clear purpose of the two sheets of paper.  It would not tell zir every detail of the service, but it told zir the songs they were to sing.  And so zie sang with the others, lifting zir voice in praise to ''the warming hand of Fate'', and after the song the kalla priestess gave a short sermon about the great virtue with which the land gods instilled regularity on so many urban theomes, such virtue that the public should trust in them and not seek to break their ties with Fate.  This church praised the good order created by the land gods.


    After that there were three names called from a prepared list that the priestess had brought in with herself, and three dragons stood at the front of the room before the pulpit, but facing the crowd.  One by one each spoke a tale of woe that ended in Jiasote, turning to a story of recovery and restabilisation.  Each of the three had badly messed up their lives before going to Jiasote, and under Gruent''s control - for that seemed to be what they were praising - they put decent lives together that they could continue living even after they left Jiasote.


    After each story the crowd said, "Praise be to the healer and the bringer of peace," so that in all the phrase was said four times.  Each time Denziu missed the cue, for zie was not of the church, but zie understood it as part of their ritual.


    When the three had told their stories, they returned to where they had sat in the crowd, and the kalla priestess raised her arms again and said, "If there is anyone in the congregation today who has not yet been to Jiasote, know that it is a place of great purity among the lands of our world!  Bring your troubles there without fear, even should you go owning nothing, and reside there for a few years.  Many of us have done this, and we raise our voices in gratitude to the result!  Please lift your songsheets again, and let us sing the second of today''s songs."


    Again the congregation sang.  This song sang of ''holy Jiasote'', and it was a song of praise to openness and trust in ''the land that accepts all''.


    When the song faded away, there was a brief span of silence in which one of the izerah got up uncalled, and went to the front of the church, then accepted a bin from the priestess, who took up a second one.  This event was unmarked by speech and ceremony, yet it was swiftly obvious that they were performing some kind of collection.  The two dragons went down the rows together, and Denziu saw gifts of coinage, even a few spelltiles, so that the collection bin was warm and radiant with magic when it got to zir.  Zie offered two silver coins to be polite, and in respect for the likely charity of a church that so praised ''the healer and the bringer of peace''.  In that moment, the kalla priestess¡¯ head swiveled to track Denziu for a moment in curious scrutiny, but she did not pause in moving down the row.


    Still, the mental image of the kalla with the fierce beak and the green feathers stuck with zir.  The kalla had a strange look among dragons, such a sharp guise, yet here that was the look of one who spoke of compassion and led songs about trust.


    When the collection had completed and the bins were stowed once more in the pulpit, there was a moment where the kalla priestess crouched in the pulpit, and then when she stood again smoothly with a circling arm gesture of both hands that led to her bowing her head to the congregation.  "I am grateful for your generosity," she said.  "With this we shall see to those who have need of Gruent''s grace."


    She stood again and said, in the same great strength of voice that she had initially led the congregation to speak of praise to the healer, "May all who heal the broken live forever!"


    Having caught the tone, this time Denziu joined in with the crowd as they all chanted, "May all who heal the broken live forever!"


    And this turned out to be the dismissal of the service, after which dragons started to turn aside and file out the door in a murmuring crowd.


    Denziu noticed no impairment among those with the blindfolds on, but watched as they manoeuvred through the crowd with all the grace of the sighted.  Zie spoke to Mosdrao then and said in zir own low murmur, "How is it that they can move around wearing those?"


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Ah, those," whispered Mosdrao with a joyous smile.  "Those are blindfolds of true faith.  Each of them has a geomantic enchantment that Fates dragons to move as though they could see, though they cannot."


    Denziu was stunned.  "They give up vision as a gesture of faith?"


    "They''re very interesting blindfolds.  I wore one for a time myself.  They restrict all manner of temptation, you know.  You don''t feel the privations you don''t see, so they''re very good for merchantgons," murmured Mosdrao.


    Denziu cringed breathlessly at the thought of giving up vision to be a better merchantgon¡­ but then a different thought set in, lingering over Denziu as the two passed the door.  ¡°Maybe¡­¡± zie said softly, ¡°Maybe you should gift one to Lorvaza.  She might quite like it.¡±


    For Lorvaza was ''the Predictable'', a surname she had earned from her great faith in Fate''s guidance for her.


    By this point they were outside of the church, but Mosdrao led the two aside so that they loitered near its entrance without blocking the flow of traffic.  Here just outside of the church they could speak in more normal tones.  "Buy one for her yourself," he said, still smiling.  "You''re the one who has been working with her on this trip."


    "Are they expensive?" asked Denziu.


    "Quite!" said Mosdrao, "Because they''re magic items.  Artefacts, even.  Potent geomancy.  But the purchase of them funds the good work that Gruent''s worshippers do in helping the suffering."


    Gruent was an unusual land god, to have worshippers far from home here in Sybanisk, where the caravan would be 8 days on the road getting between Sybanisk and Jiasote.  Not counting market days, of course.  There would be four days from Sybanisk to Hydalath, then four days from Hydalath to Jiasote.


    Denziu momentarily balked at the prospect of buying Lorvaza a gift.  It was so tempting, because the gift would be so perfect.  Zie did not particularly want a closer relationship with Lorvaza, but... in a world sense... zie wanted to live in a world where dragons who noticed the most perfect gifts for each other would go out and give them.


    Such a windfall was the kind of luck that dragons weren''t really to have in a Tekagoli caravan, but Denziu felt lucky for the opportunity.  That was the big driver.  That was why zie wanted to do it so badly.  Because even though it would cost Denziu a great deal, just to give the gift felt like a windfall.


    "I''ll do it!" zie said.  "Although I may have to go back to the caravan, to have the funds for a magic item."  Zie would have to talk to Chatulerin and withdraw part of zir caravan share.


    "Don''t tell me.¡±  Mosdrao tossed his head.  "Go inside and tell the priestess that.  She¡¯ll have the blindfold ready when you return."


    So Denziu went inside again and asked the priestess about the blindfolds, and heard much the same from her, and was still convinced that Lorvaza would love the blindfold and wear it for centuries.  The reveal of the blindfold''s price was a grimacing moment, but Denziu had braced for that.


    One short flight later, the conversation with Chatulerin was a more difficult one.  The hefty share that Denziu had loaned to the caravan had indeed grown in its estimated value, but the caravan did not want to yield even part of its caravan shares midway through.  The calculated value of the share already included the delivery of the current wagonloads of lumber to Wraquo.  What Chatulerin could offer in lieu of the gold value of the caravan share was a promissory note to be paid with funds released when current outstanding trades completed.


    The promissory note was against Choave the Caravan Leader, on behalf of Denziu the Clayseller.  That was how Chatulerin had written it.  Surprised, Denziu asked, ¡°Why like this?¡±


    Chatulerin smiled and said, "He is much more known than you are.  This will ensure that whoever you are buying an artefact from - I can tell from the sum you are asking that you are buying an artefact - will know who to bring their claim to."


    In hopes of making the promissory note more successful, Denziu spoke a prayer to Chotain over zir box of warming tiles, and extracted one of the last three warming tiles.  This zie brought to the church of Gruent, and zie offered it as a donation to the church alongside the promissory note for the blindfold to be paid on Denziu''s return.  The priestess said she was satisfied with that, and let Denziu take the blindfold.


    Zie tried it on.  It went on easily and fit perfectly, as artefact attire very nearly always does.  The blindness that the blindfold created was without flaw.  There was no peeking of light in through the cloth or from its edges, but rather it was like having no eyes at all beneath the cloth.


    There was an innate hesitation to being blind.  "How can I find the door, if I cannot see it?" asked Denziu.


    "Trust in the land gods to guide your every step," said the priestess.  "And simply... turn.  Turn with the intention of turning towards the door, and step with the intention of stepping through the door.  If you could do something with your sight, this blindfold will let you do it without your sight, and your intentions will guide you to anything that your eyes could have guided you to."


    "What have I gained?" asked Denziu.  "If the blindfold can guide me only to what my eyes could guide me to, how am I better off wearing it?"


    "You will gain the awareness of how Fate guides you to what you need.  Go!  You may even try flying.  You will fly just as well with the blindfold on as without, for it is a very powerful magic."


    Denziu was not quite brave enough to go for a flight with the blindfold on, but zie stepped to the door and found reaching out that zie had stepped exactly to where zie intended.  Zie stepped through the door, and walked along the sidewalk, stopping every so often with the intention of touching the corners of buildings and the edges of doorways, and finding that zie stopped every time just where zie intended, and touched the corners of buildings and the edges of doorways without the slightest hesitation, as though zie were reaching for something readily in sight.  These simple landmarks that zie could not see, but could only define by intention and expectation, were there every time.


    Every so often zie stepped as well in a direction zie had not intended, and after this had happened three times zie took the blindfold off immediately after one of them, spinning to look at what had been in zir path... and zie saw the winged back and tail of another dragon walking away down the street.  Zie had stepped out of someone''s way!  Lightly, comfortably, as easily as if zie hadn''t been blinded, but wholly without awareness of doing so.


    "I can feel every step, and choose where I am going," Denziu said aloud in sheer shock, "But it''s no longer I who chooses where I put my feet.  What have I just bought?"


    So saying, zie folded up the blindfold delicately and held it in a hand the rest of the way back to the merchantgon''s camp where the rest of the caravanners were waiting.  Zie found them gathering for the evening meal, and there were two abominable great bowls of plantstuff next to an enthused Lorma brandishing serving utensils.  Apparently the dinner that night was to be a salad that looked to be made of radishes and the edible parts of various flowers.  The crew looked dreary at the sight of all those plants for dinner, but Denziu was intrigued to see a return of those fuzzy pale purple bottlebrush plants.  What did they taste like?


    That thought was put away when zie saw Lorvaza join the line.  Denziu stepped to Lorvaza and said, "Hello, Lorvaza!  Can we step out of line a moment?  I''ve brought you a gift!"


    "A gift?  I didn''t know we were on such terms," Lorvaza said, but zie humoured Denziu by stepping out of the line.


    "Neither did I," said Denziu, "But I didn''t expect to find something so perfect for you!"


    They stepped away from the line.  Denziu offered the blindfold to Lorvaza.  "This is a blindfold of true faith," zie said.  "Anything you can do with your eyes open, you can do with this blindfold on.  It''s a geomantic artefact!"


    Lorvaza took the blindfold curiously, and turned it over in her hands.  "What is truly faithful about giving up vision?" she asked.


    "I think you will understand if you try it.  Fate guides you a little more directly when you have it on."


    "More directly, me?" Lorvaza scoffed, but she grinned.  She put the blindfold on, and as with Denziu it was done with a simple gesture, for the blindfold fit instantly as though it had been made for no head but Lorvaza''s.  "I don''t feel anything but blind," she said.


    Denziu grinned, remembering the admonition of the priestess to find the door.  "Now, try to walk back to take a place in Lorma''s salad line," said Denziu.


    "But how can I even try?  I can''t see it."


    "Form the intention," Denziu said.  "Be very clear to yourself that you''re about to do it, and start turning about in that direction."


    Lorvaza turned and walked back to the salad line.  Denziu walked with her.  Then Lorvaza stopped in place, right in front of Lorma, for the short line had already cleared, and Lorma was watching them curiously.  Lorvaza lifted up the blindfold to peek past it, meeting Lorma''s gaze immediately.  "Oh my Fate," swore Lorvaza, "This makes standing in line a miracle."  She dropped the blindfold again and grinned as Lorma handed her a platter full of flower salad.


    Denziu took a platter of salad from Lorma next, and Lorma said, "So what miracle have I just witnessed?"


    "Blindfold of true faith," Denziu said.  "From Gruent''s church in Sybanisk."


    Lorma leaned in and whispered in a gossipy tone, "You two aren''t courting now, are you?"


    "No, no.  Certainly not," said Denziu.  "I just couldn''t ignore such a perfect gift opportunity."


    "You know, Lorvaza was our newcomer before you," said Lorma.  There was nobody else in line, so Lorma filled up another platter for herself, and Denziu held out a hand, taking the plate politely so that Lorma wouldn''t have to walk tripodal to sit down with the platter.


    The two of them walked to a table.  "She''s still selling such an odd thing," Lorma said, "working from a chest of enchantments every time, but it leaves most of her wagon free for contract hauling, so she hauls like most of us at Choave''s direction."


    "I''ll probably do likewise if I join again next year," said Denziu.  "It''s just this year that I came into the route with my wagon full of pottery."


    "Years of collection," Lorma said.  "That''s what Lorvaza said you called it."


    Denziu shied, dipping zir head.  "Oh!  Well, I was picking the unusual ones, you know, from wares priced as though they were only to store grain."


    "Cheap bulk pottery.  So you''d make a profit if you moved them even as high-grade pottery," said Lorma.


    Denziu hesitated to answer, wanting to actually eat rather than talk.  Zie speared one of those bottlebrush plants with a fork, and was surprised at a sweet, fruity flavour.  When zie''d chewed and swallowed it - the texture was most peculiar - zie said to Lorma, "I suppose I would, but I want to do even better than that, and sell the pots as individual display pieces.  The artists who made them need to know, I mean they need some proof, that they''re producing better work than a grain-keeper''s spare time."


    "Going to share your profits?"


    Denziu cringed at that, feeling abruptly caught out in deep selfishness, for indeed zie had no such intention.  After a moment zie shook zir head.  "No.  Just my records."


    A moment of quiet.  Denziu sat up straighter and said, "The pottergons of Denxalue are old friends of mine.  I''ve been bringing them perfect clays for decades, too.  They''ll not begrudge me what I get for proving their artistry."


    The two of them ate then in silence.  Denziu marvelled at the strangeness of eating what were clearly flowers and flower greens.  Some of the other ingredients stood out for their strangeness as well, for there were among the salad a mixture of white and purple petals that were bitter at first taste, yet which turned sweet when chewed upon.  There were touches of bitterness such as that in the salad, but it was overall a sweet salad, at least as salads go.  There was clearly no touch of honey upon it.  The radishes, of course, contributed a substantial spice and zest to it.


    "You know," said Denziu, holding up a fork with another of the bottlebrushes speared on it, "You''ve really been impressing me with the vegetable foods."


    Lorma smiled at that.  "You''d be amazed how many think dragons should live on meat alone."


    There was an amazed gasp from a nearby table, and Denziu swivelled at once to look again at Lorvaza, for zie knew who was likely to emit amazed gasps that evening.  Just as Denziu''s eyes settled on Lorvaza''s green-scaled form she emitted a cry of, "I knew it!"  For she was staring at an empty platter, with a hand on her blindfold, hoisting it up.


    She caught Denziu''s gaze and said, "I knew I''d finished it!  Just as I would if I could see!"


    "I would be surprised if it failed in any detail," said Denziu.


    Lorvaza dropped the blindfold back into place.  "This gift is amazing, Denziu.  Thank you so much."


    "It''s a pleasure to give an amazing gift!"


    There was a cold snap that night.  The weather turned at once from late spring to early spring, bringing with it a snowstorm.  Confident in their path and his magic, Choave was unmoved by the weather, but hurried them out of North Sybanisk with his spell and a cry of, ¡°We¡¯ve a shorter distance to go today!  Come along!¡±


    The blowing snow found the edge of Denziu¡¯s amicus breeze.  The warm shield of wind and magic about Denziu was blown ragged by the weather, so that zie felt every gust.


    Ekis seemed even colder, and though she was talkative to fend off the misery of the chill, Denziu could hear the cold in her voice so much that when the caravan stopped for a midday meal of honeyed bread, zie spoke a brief prayer to Chotain over zir box of warming tiles, and then extracted the third of the warming amulets.  This zie handed to Ekis, who took it gratefully.  "I''ll have you pay if you keep it," Denziu said gravely, "But you can have it today for free."


    They walked on through the falling snow for hours.  Blessedly, the distance between Central Sybanisk and North Sybanisk was not a full day''s walk.  The caravan pulled into another merchantgon camp not long after noon.


    They crowded to a food seller set up near the campground on the outskirts of North Sybanisk.  There was no line in that bad weather, but a bubbling pot of cheese greeted them, and a vrash merchantgon who breathed fire on his pot as they approached.  ¡°You have cheese this far north?¡± asked Denziu.  ¡°I¡¯ve seen no cattle.¡±


    ¡°Cheese keeps for years and travels everywhere!¡± proclaimed the merchantgon, brandishing a ladle.


    So the caravanners dined on meat cooked in a sticky cheese sauce, which was horribly palatable enough that several of them bought a second round.  Denziu wanted to do so as well, but restrained zirself when zie noticed that blindfolded Lorvaza was disinterested.  Mosdrao had mentioned that effect of the blindfold.  Did that mean meat with cheese sauce was a temptation best skipped?


    Shaking off hunger, zie went to the fireside to see if zie could leave zir wagon in the care of whoever was staying at camp.  Choave, as usual, was unshiftable.  "If you want to go out in this snow," he said, "Go ahead!"


    Zie was curious about the library outpost in North Sybanisk.  The library turned out to be a tiny building by the standards of libraries, with two wings of two aisles each past a central area where a librarian stood behind a counter.  A painted map of the region from Tirrtian Pass to Wraquo was pinned to the wall behind the librarian.  The few shelves were also half-barren, so that the library gave an impression of poverty.


    "Why are there empty shelves here?" zie asked the librarian.


    "Chotain requires us to maintain this building," said the librarian, "But does not work her miracles for any of library post save the one in Central, which is near to her museum and quite good."


    There was a distinct bias among the books on offer to the northern theomes.  Denziu found books of praise to various northern land gods.  Gruent of Jiasote had several authors contributing, but so did Cortacaffakalyenay of Nyberinz, which was the jewel theome near Wraquo, though its Blizzard Museum was scarcely of interest to any save a particularly hyperborean kind of geomancer.  Toleva of Wraquo seemed a fixation of the library.  Denziu suspected Chotain''s requirement was to scour for books related to the northern extreme of the specific trade route on which North Sybanisk was built.


    Denziu wondered if zie could even read while walking.  The caravan required only an even pace for so many hours per day, and there was even Ekis at zir shoulder to help with keeping pace.  If zie could read all day, zie might even want more than one book...


    Zie found one book titled "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus".  Axorus was one of the highlights of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith, mentioned in the Libraries of Querent-Querent as a slightly-dangerous but definitely fascinating place to visit.  Denziu picked it up in hope of an entertaining read.  Zie found another, rather fatter book titled, "Evermines of the Arrakra Vicinity," which seemed like something to show to Choave and a grim thing to choke down intently in the name of future profits.  Zie picked that one up in business sense.


    These two books Denziu took to the librarian, who flipped through a very large, broken-spined tome on the counter in which a great deal of tiny writing lived, and Denziu wasn''t quite adroit enough at reading an upside down text to catch any of the tiny writing on the book as the librarian searched it.  At length the librarian surprised Denziu by quoting prices for each of the two texts, and not small ones.  When Denziu gaped at this, the librarian said, "In the hopes of someday having full shelves, we ask a deposit for each book, and the deposit is large enough that we''re content you might walk off with the book.  You''ll have the same sum returned to you when we have the same book returned to us, you see, and the book will then still have been free."


    "I understand," said Denziu.  "What if I like the book enough to depart with it and call it a sale?"


    "Then you shall have almost certainly gotten a bad price, and should have been better off visiting a bookseller, but if that¡¯s the only way you find one of our texts you¡¯re welcome to take it."


    So it was that Denziu left the library with a light book, a heavy book, a thin coinpurse, and an occupation for traversing grassy tundras where a distraction was more welcome than the countryside.

 Chapter 21: Izaeyaranth & Sanadir

    Izaeyaranth was a minor stop on the trade route.  Just a little village in a stretch of mundane tundra.  Although the summer ''warmth'' made the walk bearable, and indeed the temperature recovered substantially as the group departed Sybanisk so that Denziu recovered from Ekis the warming amulet that zie had lent her, there was little to see here.


    The trade caravan had little interest in the signature ''good'' of Izaeyaranth, which was skilled labourers and architects who could be contracted to build swaivshon constructions.


    It might''ve had a demand for food, Denziu mused.  There was little sign of farming.  The wilderness here looked wide and uninhabited, broken only by the road.  Perhaps even the road did not break up the wilderness, for there were tunnels under the road at points, a familiar structure that Denziu had seen before near Tanoriz.  For the wildlife?  Those tunnels surely could not be for dragons.


    There was little to do other than read along the way.  Denziu experimented with it, snatching glances nervously at "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus" in between glances at Ekis and at the wagon in front of zirself.  Zie could pull zir wagon with zir tail, a luxury for which zie felt guilty yet again, as the weightless thing was such an unearned gift from Praoziu.


    "I''m not sure you should be doing that," said Ekis.


    "I want to try," said Denziu.


    Ekis hmmed and said, "If you want to read, you should try to get your cart lashed to someone else''s at the next stopping point."


    So Denziu closed the book and pulled normally again.


    At their next stopping point, Denziu tied zir wagon to the cart in front of it, so that the weightless thing would be pulled along.  "We could use more floating carts," observed Choave, sanguine about letting Denziu out of the work.  "We could really extend our carrying capacity."


    ¡°So you admit that it¡¯s not a luxury!¡± boasted Denziu.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very valuable.  Just a very expensive thing to get into.¡±


    Without a cart to pull, Denziu trailed behind the caravan, but now zie could read without messing up the progress of the caravanners by pulling in any strange or irregular way.


    Axorus was a legendary mystic theome that would be on their route.  Like Keltia-Aneya, it was a place to stay on the roads, because the unknown land god of Axorus was inclined to hand out "get lost and die" Fates to dragons who tried to explore.  Unlike Keltia-Aneya, Axorus was profoundly, amazingly, impossibly urban.  It was a theome of ghost cities where nobody lived.  Alien city after alien city was visible from the roadways of Axorus, many of which were positioned to give amazing views, a few of which even flew over cityscapes.


    Denziu had read these things as words in a Querent-Querent travelogue that spoke of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith theome-by-theome.  Yet "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus" put pictures to the words, and had the fascinated author talk about their sightings in the city.  The book was a reproduction of a reproduction, but whatever enterprising scribe had managed to sell a copy to to the North Sybanisk library had clearly been aware that copying the skylines would increase the value of the book considerably.


    Unlike most mystic theomes, Axorus was stable.  If dragons stuck to the roads, there was a set progression of cities, and a finite (albeit large) number of places that could be seen by taking this-or-that turn along the roads.  So what were these cities?  They were something vast and unreal.  If they''d ever been populated, they weren''t populated anymore.


    The author included interviews with gnarlen who lived away from the roads in Axorus.  The gnarlen were animate statues, halfway out of Fate by virtue of being technically necromantic constructs, yet they were beloved of the land gods and enchanted with a protective will.  These stone protectors were a rare and sacred sight.  There seemed to be a community of them in Axorus according to this author.  There was a picture sketched of one of them, though Denziu suspected it had lost something in the process of being copied and recopied.


    Only the gnarlen could form a community in Axorus.  They relied upon their resistance to Fate in order to do so; the stonecarved gnarlen could establish communities in such inhospitable theomes.  Denziu wondered if there were hidden sacred stone dragons exploring Keltia-Aneya, too.


    Denziu spent hours and hours reading about Axorus, and had read half of the book by the time the caravanners stopped to put into the caravanserai at Izaeyaranth.  Zie hardly looked up all the way there.


    The caravanserai of Izaeyaranth was a domed structure like the one under Atney, with a great open plaza in the middle surrounded by wagon berths.  At one end of the dome, the opening to the outside loomed with great gates twice a vashael''s height to admit the largest wagons.  At the other end of the dome, smaller gates (for no wagon was expected to traverse them) led to the rest of the village of Izaeyaranth.  The caravanserai gates could lock at both ends.


    What was ''the rest of the village of Izaeyaranth''?  A much bigger dome that dwarfed the caravanserai.


    The village was a fascinating place.  Izaeyaranth-the-theome was a vast unclaimed wilderness, a tundra with little population.  Izaeyaranth-the-village?  It was all indoors.  Whole buildings were built up inside of another, larger structure that unified all of it.  There were multiple levels held up off the ground by a combination of stone architecture and shining metal buttresses; 3 in all, so that every address in Izaeyaranth consisted of a door number hyphenated to a level.  These were posted up next to or above every door Denziu saw while exploring Izaeyaranth.  This three level settlement showed off the monolithic nature of swaivshon architecture, and in a very different style from the tall spires seen in Atney.


    Released to wander Izaeyaranth, most of the caravanners eventually coalesced in an ''open air'' inn upon the third level of Izaeyaranth, with 1-3 declaring its address upon an open arch by the stairs to the third level.  By ''open air'' it was not here meant that the inn was exposed to the atmosphere of the tundra, but rather that it was built without walls between itself and the third level of Izaeyaranth.  Every room within it was open to the domed roof overhead.  The hammocks were arrayed in the open, clustered near a wall of Izaeyaranth itself.  Likewise and next to them, a kitchen used an oven built into the very wall of the village, whose flue must have vented right out of Izaeyaranth entirely.  As the point of a triangle between the two, there was a seating area and a counter for a vendorgon to tend the inn.


    The third layer of Izaeyaranth had sports fields and other space-hungry environments amidst what looked like an open area for more housing should the village grow to need it.  The fields were built up on some unusual surface, an artificial orange colour and oddly soft.  Denziu reflected that it might be another of the mystery materials that only the swaivshon knew how to make.  A wagon-load of that stuff might be worth a mint!


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    As the caravanners ordered their meals (the menu special was a buckwheat porridge with onion and venison), they watched a group of swaivshon playing some game that had them striking a ball with their noses, tails, and occasionally shoulders.  They had scoring nets a third the width of the playing field at each end, and the field itself was marked out with widely spaced flags to define a rectangle.  It was good entertainment, not only for the players, but for the visitors at the unwalled inn.


    Seeing the kitchen in operation was its own entertainment to the front of house.  Working without walls, the whole of the customers could see that the kitchen was a keen place of activity.  Denziu was taken by curiosity over the inn''s kitchen, and lingered by the bar to seize the attention of the blue-furred vendorgon who''d sold them their meals.  With one hand on the counter and the other raised to occasionally wave, Deniziu sought avidly for an open moment.  Eventually the vendorgon came back and said, "Yes?  Want another bowl?"


    To this Denziu said, "Oh, I might, but moreover I''m curious about your kitchen!  Does that flue go outside of Izaeyaranth entirely?"


    "Every flue in Izaeyaranth goes outside!" said the vendorgon.  "Otherwise we''d choke on fumes."


    "But not all of the houses are arrayed on the edge of the structure!" said Denziu.


    The vendorgon snorted and said, "Most of them are.  For the rest, there''s a ventilation tunnel between each level to get the fumes flowing right out.  Right smoky place to crawl into, it is."  He perked and said, "Now, about that extra bowl?"


    Denziu nodded and said, "Alright, I''ll order more.  It''s a good porridge that you''re serving."


    "Of course it is," said the vendorgon.  "We''ve got great wilderness out here, and the herds give us more than some land gods would."


    So Denziu got zir snout into a second bowl, and wondered about the ventilation levels of Izaeyaranth.  Such complexity the swaivshon built with, but the result was very comfortable.  How long had it taken to build?  How long would the building last?  Surely to be worthwhile, such a structure must last years beyond counting... and looking out across the third level of Izaeyaranth as zie ate zir porridge, zie saw empty lots for further houses still.  Populations grew so slowly in Theoma, yet here the swaivshon had built with room to someday expand!


    They were away from that warm place and once more out upon the chill ''summer'' roads the next morning.  Several groups set out at the same time, but without Choave¡¯s vigour spell were soon left behind.


    The next theome was Sanadir.  It was just another tundra, with a few more hills and some stands of sturdy conifers.  The road evaded the hills for the most part, and ran alongside the shining iceways that were an enchanted frictionless path for winter traffic, which was the traffic for a good swathe of the year, yet currently useless to them since Choave''s was a summer caravan that wasn''t using sledges.  There was moderate traffic on the north-south roads and the iceway¡¯s southern end was inactive.


    The weather being fortuitously dry and clear, Denziu walked with a book again, leaving zir wagon tied to one of the others.  Nobody seemed to mind, save possibly Ekis, who was bored pulling the other weightless wagon without Denziu next to her.  Spending half a day on "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus" had proven to Denziu that zie could read without falling behind or accidentally running into the back of the caravan.  Now zie was reading the other book: "Evermines of the Arrakra Vicinity".


    Denziu skimmed the first chapter of it, which described evermines in concept as though the book might be picked up by someone unaware of the basics.  Zie knew what an evermine was: a mine blessed by the land gods to regenerate over time, producing fresh ore in its depths so that the miners could work the same site indefinitely.


    After the first chapter, zie paged through to where the table of contents listed important maps.  Denziu thought at the next stopping point zie might copy out the maps and acquire the primary value of the text while still returning it to the library.  Evermines were the backbone of Theoma¡¯s metal economy.  Knowing where they were provided a lot of information about where to find metal goods.  Famous industrial theomes often contained an evermine or two to fuel them.


    After that, zie started in on the content in earnest.  It was a dry, awful book for studying, but Denziu was kept alert by the need to keep up with the caravan.  The awareness in the edge of zir thought that the value of zir caravan share would vary based on the success of Choave''s trading helped.  Zir share had been reduced but not extinguished by the promissory note to Gruent''s church in Sybanisk; zie was still holding 8 percent of the caravan.


    Eventually, their endurance for the endless walk ended without having passed a convenient village or merchantgon stop, so they camped in the open in the middle of Sanadir.  They pulled their wagons about in a circle and let the two flying wagons be within the circle (for they were precious enough to inspire avarice).  Little of note happened that night.  They ate bread and dried meat, and dried fruit that Lorma must have picked up at market in Izaeyaranth.  They listened to Omrezen singing songs in praise of good hunting, as Omrezen alone seemed particularly inspired by this landscape.


    The next day was not clear but spat rain, so Denziu left zir books in zir wagon and pulled in zir row upon the wagon train, and still zie ignored the terrain.  Zie spoke to Ekis, and was still thinking of Adenth, so that zie mentioned that deep-under theome where Inrakaveach touched the living caves far below Tachamund.


    Ekis surprised Denziu by wondering if they should haul stone from Adenth.  Stone!  "Surely the stone of Adenth is the same as the stone of the surface," Denziu said.


    "Yes, but they are surrounded by an ocean of stone!  They must have to get rid of endless amounts of stone every time they expand anything!  I bet it¡¯s practically free!" said Ekis.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Inrakaveach already be buying up the free stone from Adenth?  They¡¯ll know what it¡¯s worth.¡±


    "Maybe!¡± said Ekis.  ¡°Soooo if you don¡¯t think we should haul back stone, what DO you think we should haul from the deep-under?¡±


    "Denziu said, ¡°I keep thinking about the good in the document that I read in the library at Xeladash.  I want to try hauling up a cargo of necromantic lights from Adenth, too."


    Ekis pulled in silence for a minute, perhaps nearer two, while thinking about that.  Her trademark enthusiasm was dimmed as she said, "You will not be able to sell those quickly.  It¡¯ll be days at market.  They aren¡¯t even legal everywhere!"


    "Do you know anything of them?" asked Denziu.


    Ekis shook her head and said, "Only what I can infer from knowing that necromancy is never Fated to work!  Can you imagine the headache you would inflict on a land god, being forever about to have a failed enchantment, when in fact the enchantment does not fail?"


    "Isn''t necromancy subtle?"


    "I think the land gods are pushed to look away from it by the frustration of observing it," said Ekis.  "Although I''ve truly no idea.  All I''m really sure about is that necromancy messes up Fate."


    They walked on in silence again for a while.


    Denziu thought about the disagreement between them.  Ekis had proposed doing something that sounded very dubiously profitable.  Denziu had proposed something that would take an unknown length of extra time at market.  "I think your proposal is a more ''regular'' one," Denziu said.


    "Oh?" said Ekis.


    ¡°You mentioned doing this for a few years.  If we secure a stone hauling contract, we should be able to turn the wagons around very quickly, with regular profits on each trip.¡±


    ¡°Aha!  You understand!¡± Ekis said happily.  ¡°You want to do the flashy novel thing, but you¡¯re not thinking like a Tekagoli merchantgon!  But maybe we can do both, too.  We should definitely ask about necromantic lights when we get to Adenth!¡±


    This discussion became the memorable thing of Denziu''s second day on the road in Sanadir, which was only a hilly taiga in its northern half and not greatly of interest to Denziu, whose love of wilderness was lacking.


    Although there was perhaps one other thing of note, which is that the roads were often full of other travellers along the way.  Between Sanadir''s quarry villages and Hydalath they were even passed by sledge traffic along the enchanted iceway, whose magic kept it a smooth icy surface despite the summer months.  There were great blocks of stone from Sanadir¡¯s quarries being passed north to Hydalath.

 Chapter 22: Hydalath

    There was one dramatic change that marked the border of Hydalath: the roads warmed up. They warmed up all the way, a famous amenity: the roads in Hydalath were heated! By the mercy of Hydalath¡¯s land god Jadarkontalyia, Hydalath''s broad roadways never froze over, but remained amazingly comfortable underfoot.


    There was a subtler sign. As they passed north from the border, many of the plants in the fields and forests developed blue luminescences. Leaves, fruits, pinecones. It varied from plant to plant which part was glowing, but it seemed to be a commonplace in Hydalath.


    On the northeastern horizon appeared two pyramids, regularly sized and at regular distances from each other, vast such that their tips were separated yet their bases (below the horizon) must be touching.


    In scale, the pyramids brought to mind Akima, a city on the vertical, for each one structure was clearly more deserving of being called a city than either of the two "cities" in Denxalue. THIS was a place where dragons could be innumerable without running out of space!


    In unity, the pyramids brought to mind Izaeyaranth. Denziu imagined that each structure contained other structures, and many levels of them.


    The frictionless iceway turned off towards the two pyramids. The road branched, so that one branch followed the iceway and the other continued forward. Seeking the road that passed through the theome to the north, the caravanners kept their course and so the glimpsed city of vast pyramids slid towards the eastern horizon.


    Something even more fantastical rose up ahead of them. A flat base hoisted up on the tips of other pyramids! This was the shape of the greatest city in Hydalath, which held the central marketplace to which they were going.


    "That''s a thousand years of construction!" chirped Ekis, following Denziu''s gaze towards that city in the sky.


    "I wish I could get a wagonload of those alloys," said Denziu, thinking that a wagonload of ingots of an alloy that could hold up a pyramid full of buildings would pay for an artefact itself. There were plenty of strange magics that Denziu would love to buy.


    "A lot of dragons wish that," said Ekis, "But the armoured carriages that deliver it are protected by tons of magic. You''d be lucky to get an ingot here or there bribing construction workers. It''d take a century to have a wagonload."


    Denziu''s imagination was seized by the prospect for a moment. It was so similar to what zie''d done to accumulate a wagonload of art-pottery. Just one pot here or there, bought at grain-store prices. If zie lived in Hydalath, zie could put together a shipment of swaivshon alloy the same way. "I could do it," zie said.


    Ekis snorted and said, "You''re not even a century old.¡±


    "Yeah, but it wouldn''t literally take a century. Maybe a decade," Denziu said. "The bigger issue is the legal hazard, so I don''t think I would do it. Just that it''d be possible. I bet the stuff is already purchasable to dragons who have the right contacts."


    "Well, Hydalath is one of the biggest users of it. If you want to get hold of some, this is the place to go," Ekis said.


    "I don''t have any use for a single ingot of weird metal," said Denziu.


    "That might be stopping thievery itself. Who can move swaivshon alloy in small quantities? You need a lot to make something out of it."


    Omrezen called to them from the row behind them, "Hey, I heard something about that place! That isn''t just a flying platform for buildings. They''ll be building another pyramid on top of the ones they''ve got, someday. When they start running low on space in the pyramids they''ve got!"


    "Yeah, and when will that happen, the 18th century?" called back Ekis. The two of them both snorted with sudden laughter, and Denziu smiled.


    Getting near to the pyramids at Hydalath took a disturbingly long time, and the towering city was a humbling sight to stand at the foot of. They were truly massive structures. Had the caravan been approaching from the east and travelling west, they would not have seen the sunset past them, for the pyramids were so great that they would have blocked out the whole of the red sky and left the caravan to approach in shade. The great sky plate looked like it could have held the whole of Zhaoze, which was Denxalue¡¯s largest city, and Denziu saw structures dangling from the plate with lit windows in its shadow. There were dragons launching from balconies under the plate.


    At the foot of this massive structure, Denziu was aghast. Zie had imagined that there would be ten-thousands of dragons here in Hydalath. What unfathomable number were they truly? Or did they all live in mansions, with vast indoor spaces untouched by the cold outside?


    It seemed all of glass, and there was level after level of buildings inside it, suspended like diamonds in the air on shining stout columns that left room enough to fly between them. Some of the buildings were built on great platforms. Others were literally diamondoid, shining edifices of unknown material with landing platforms to serve as the yards for each address. The whole structure was held up by trusses on trusses of that rumoured swaivshon metal. There were dozens of external balconies, slim and near to the structure, from which dragons on the wing could enter or leave it.


    Oh how they flew! The swaivshon seemed innumerable here, the air filling with furred dragons on the wing. Their whole vast city was designed for flight, between the countless platforms, inside and out, between the different pyramids even they flew. This surely must be the greatest city of the swaivshon!


    For the caravanners, bound to the ground by their wagons stacked high with ingots of a more banal metal, there was a broad, open gate into one of the four base pyramids, tall enough that a two-story house could have been brought in through that gate. By here the road continued uninterrupted directly through the pyramid.


    Denziu felt sick with uncertainty as they entered under the structure. How could their paltry caravan of metal make any difference to societies which built with as much metal as was on display above them? For entering under this great metal city was not at all like going indoors, but it was like being underneath a webbing of great diamonds in an outdoors area. The shadows played strange over them as the great glass hull of the building above enclosed them in warmth.


    "What is this place?" Denziu asked of Ekis.


    "This is Polser, capital of Hydalath!¡±


    After that, Denziu was too preoccupied in looking at everything. ''Everything'' included an occasional bout of staring at the warm road underfoot. If there had been any innate grandeur to being a dragon, this city-building dwarfed it.


    There was a substantial traffic of dragon wagons in the caravanserai district of Polser. Competing signage boasted of several different places with names that used the non-word ''econo'' too much. Spurning the Econo-Resort and the Econo-Lodge, they stayed at the Econo-Shield. The decision between the three different enclosed and secured buildings was totally meaningless to Denziu; fortunately, Choave made the call.


    The caravanserai had great open gates, and the intimidating sense of having Polser looming overhead was abated by the solid roof of the caravanserai. The wagon berths were packed. There was just barely enough room, and when Oghai had finished speaking to the innkeeper dragon, Denziu saw him stepping outside to put up the no vacancies signboard. They filed in after that.


    There was a sausage seller in the great open space where the wagons were berthed. Lorma turned her nose with a grimace as she pulled her wagon past to its berth, but Denziu wasn''t vegetarian just yet, and thought that a meal might be a relief from both travel fatigue and the overwhelmingness of Polser. Choave apparently had the same idea, as they both joined the line for sausages.


    "Where is the market in Polser?" Denziu asked.


    "Hm! For me, it''s in one of those buildings overhead," said Choave, "Where I''ll be checking the commodity prices to see if the spot price will cover the contract breach with my contacts in Wraquo."


    "Will it?" asked Denziu.


    "Certainly not, but I''ll take the windfall if it does."


    They got to the front of the line, and came away with sausages. "Where is the market for me?" asked Denziu as they walked back to their wagon berths.


    "Well, there''s a ground market not too far from the caravanserai," said Choave, gesturing with his sausage. "But I think you should ask where Lorvaza flies off to this time every year with her chest of fate-charms, as I think she''ll have your best market in mind."


    Denziu chomped half a sausage and looked around while chewing it. Zie was thrilled to see Lorvaza eating a sausage while wearing the blindfold of true faith. Somehow, the pull of Fate (or perhaps her sense of smell) had drawn her over to the sausage seller!


    Zie went over to Lorvaza and said, "Hello! We should work together again today."


    "Oh Denziu," said Lorvaza, "I would simply love to. This blindfold and your wagon will go over beautifully with my customers in Polser. They''ll think I''ve prospered greatly over the last year!"


    That was all the persuasion it took to find a guide to a market in Polser rich enough to buy art-pottery.


    The next morning, Denziu and Lorvaza took off for a brief flight inside the pyramid that ended in its northeast corner. There a road descended into a brightly lit tunnel where everburning magelights marched along the ceiling to produce a clean (albeit orange) light. Above the descending road, Denziu could see where the four corners of the pyramid bases touched each other. A shared park marked the junction point.


    "Why are we going here?" asked Denziu as they walked down the warm road into the underground between the four pyramids. Zie had expected that they would fly up to one of the platforms raised up off the ground.


    "Past here is the finest market in Polser," said Lorvaza. "Where meet the four roads that go down to the helix descending, there is a market ring that sees trade from above and below."


    They went into the tunnel for some distance, but soon came out into an open space as large as the parkland above. The road turned here around a huge dome-roofed ring, with a stout metal column holding up the centre. The room was full of warm, sunny light from balls dangling from chains in the ceiling.


    Around the ring? Rows and rows of market stalls. The outer roadway was kept clear, but inside of it was a bustling market.


    The two had departed early from the caravanserai. There were open spaces in the rows and the crowds were not yet dense. The two found a place to break open Denziu''s floating wagon, piked up the tent cloth over it, and arranged the pots and charms that each hoped to sell.


    Beyond the furred faces of the swaivshon, Denziu got to see more unusual dragons among the merchantgons and their customers: the small bipedal myrghon with their gems levitating 6 a piece, and the large quadrupedal myrskor with prominent earfins and complex, shifting glows across their scales. Zie longed to browse the stalls to see what traders had brought to the surface from the deep-under, but today zie needed to stay and hawk pottery.


    Denziu remembered as well the kalla with the fur coat that Serafustin had showed zir. Would they meet here?


    "Finest pottery of swampy Denxalue," zie called to dragons passing by. "Artists named and pieces dated; own a piece of art history! Painted works from a place far distant, on good stoneware!"


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    The place was a babble of hopeful merchantgons in a chaos of unlicensed vendorgons. Denziu would not have known who to seek permission from to work in that market, but it didn¡¯t seem like there was any rule other than getting to a place first


    The traffic intensified as the day wore on. The outer ring was kept clear for wagon traffic. Myrskor pulled wagons as vrash and vashael did. More intriguingly, there were myrghon whose wagons seemed to propel themselves while the myrghon were seated upon them! There were no gems levitating near the myrghon with wagons. Some of the wagons disgorged myrghon passengers then turned to retreat downwards again, while others continued onwards to destinations on the surface.


    "See the vistas of a swamp, preserved forever on these great grain pots," called Denziu, gesturing for attention.


    That call caught a passer-by. "What''s a swamp?" asked a fat blue myrghon with many-pointed white horns, who walked up to Denziu wearing her six gems like a levitating crown.


    "Oh, swamps are wet and heavily overgrown," said Denziu. "Mucky slow rivers and trees overhanging them." Zie crouched next to one of zir pots that was on the floor of the levitating wagon and gestured at the wilderness scene painted on it. "Look, the artist who made this one painted one of the waterways of Denxalue."


    The myrghon crouched by the pot and said, "Can you swim in that?"


    Denziu grinned as zie said, "I''ve swam in that river myself."


    "Huh. I may come back in a few hours. Watch for me," the myrghon said, before waddling off elsewhere in the market.


    All through the day, Denziu met myrghon and myrskor who were simply fascinated by the brightly colourful pots. None of them were instant sales, but many claimed they would come back in a few hours. In that crowded market, dealing with strangers all day, Denziu didn¡¯t expect to see them again.


    Zie was surprised when a group of wagons, myrskor and myrghon, parked at the nearest point on the ring, then disgorged their drivers to visit Denziu again. These were most of the ones who had promised to return!


    Denziu realised zie was looking at haulergons who had emptied their vehicles hauling something into Hydalath. They were eager to load Denziu¡¯s pots onto their wagons and carry them away. There were more customers here than Denziu had pots to sell them!


    There was just one wrinkle to all their welcome interest: they wanted mediocre prices.


    They understood that they were buying art, and Denziu had little trouble negotiating them out of the range of unadorned grain storage vessels, but then they stiffened. All of them. Some of them pulled away at that point with complaints that they shouldn''t buy art. At the back of the crowd, several left without having spoken a word.


    For a moment, Denziu thought zie would lose the whole crowd, but then one of the myrskor spoke rapturously of showing a wonder of the surface world to dragons who had never seen a tree!


    "Are there no trees in the deep-under?" asked Denziu.


    "Oh, some!" said the myrskor, nudging their way to the front of the crowd. "In some places, where the work has been done to light them, water them, and give them soil. There¡¯s nothing wild like your swamps and forests. I''ll pay a little more, o merchantgon, but please let me have it in my price range!"


    Two myrghon cried out and pumped fists in the air at that. They pushed their way to the front of the crowd as well. ¡°I¡¯ll pay a little more, too!¡± said one. ¡°We¡¯ll be the highest bidders!¡± said the other.


    Impressed by their passion, Denziu agreed to sell three pots for a price that would have been good for a fast profit, but which was somewhat disappointing relative to the time and effort that had gone into gathering the collection. Three beautifully painted pots with pewter placards identifying who made them thus went off into the deep-under of Theoma. Those pots are never going to see sunlight again, Denziu thought as the last one pulled away.


    Despite the wealth of Hydalath and Denziu¡¯s high hopes for it, there were no other pottery sales that day. Recording a low price for the three pots put Denziu in a dreary mood. The yield might not impress the artists much for the effort involved. Denziu reflected that zie may have invested too much time into building this collection, and that putting so much time into it had led zir to develop unreasonable expectations about what it was worth.


    As zie pulled zir wagon up the ramp to the ground level of Polser after the close of market, zie moved so morosely that Lorvaza hesitated at the surface rather than springing into the air. She said, "You look - and this is the strangest thing, but somehow I just know - you look like you''re not at all happy."


    Denziu looked into Lorvaza''s blindfolded face and wondered, How do the land gods decide which things the blindfold¡¯s wearer reacts to? For in this case, it was as though Jadarkontalyia had just prodded Lorvaza to see without sight that Denziu was moping up the ramp. That blindfold of true faith was a strange reminder of land god omnipresence.


    "Let''s step aside," said Denziu. The two pulled aside of the road so that they would not block traffic, and then Denziu spoke again, "Lorvaza, I don''t think I''m ever going to spend so long gathering a collection of art. Not again."


    "No such thing as a worthy price, is there?" Lorvaza replied.


    "No, there''s not. And... I''ve been asking too much. If I''d sold all the pots at the price I just sold those three, I would''ve sold more at other markets along the way," Denziu said.


    Lorvaza was silent for a moment considering that, and then said, "Do you regret the price tag more, or the time you spent?"


    Denziu''s head tilted. "What do you mean, ''regret the price tag''?"


    Patiently, Lorvaza tried again, "Would you rather you had priced the pots to sell more readily, or that you had collected them more quickly?"


    ''Ah'', Denziu thought, and said, "I wish that I had collected the pots more quickly. If I''d gathered them all in a season, I would gladly have sold them even cheaper. But after years of collecting? I was hoping for a legendary return."


    Lorvaza nodded, saying again, "No such thing as a worthy price. It''s why trying to trade in artefacts is a skill of its own."


    "Maybe just a skill of vast patience," said Denziu. "Or vast boldness. I think I would be afraid to burn my savings into items of rare value and then hope to sell them at even rarer prices."


    Lorvaza listened to what Denziu said, but then echoed, "Of patience..." from the start of it. She said, "You know, I don''t think the caravan did you many favours. You could have sold more of your pots at higher prices if you''d had more days in the markets that were good for the pottery."


    "I was afraid that something would happen along the way," said Denziu.


    "Maybe I should give this blindfold back," Lorvaza said with a smile. "If you go out with trust in the land gods and stick to the benevolent theomes, you''ll be fine. Your flying wagon can move so much faster than the rest of us can."


    "I wouldn''t have known where the caravanserai were," said Denziu, "Nor would I have been sheltered in the wagon ring when there wasn''t one."


    "Ah," said Lorvaza. "That''s a bigger issue. But now you do know where the caravanserai are, and how to pick them out from the sky, and I think you wouldn''t want to trade save by flying one to the next."


    ¡°I''m still grateful to Choave for running this caravan. I think I''ll come back again next year with an empty wagon, ready to contribute to his trade."


    Lorvaza¡¯s tail swayed. "That''s what a lot of us are doing. We love Choave. It¡¯s not about the money. The caravan we walk together is eighty-something days of a working holiday."


    They had that evening at the Econo-Shield a fruit-laden meal brought by Lorma from the market. The blue plants in Hydalath were laden with magic, and they were gathered by local dragons to sell at market. They were a local delicacy, or at least a local novelty, and dragons travelling from afar were drawn to eating them.


    Some members of the caravan looked on Lorma with disbelief and pulled away to feast on more sausages from the vendorgon in the Econo-Shield. Denziu soon found out why: the novelty of eating something that glowed blue lasted about one bite. The first fruit Denziu tried was the brightest on the table. It turned out that it was bittersweet with some strange lingering foulness. Good magic might have excused a bad flavour if Denziu knew what the supposed magic of the plants actually was, but zie did not. Flavour-wise, the least bad were some dark blue berries. Denziu thought that glow-juice might not be the tastiest thing despite how fascinating it looked.


    Choave ate with those who tucked into the glowing fruit, and grinned when seeing Denziu pulling faces at the fruit. "It''s cheap," he said. "There are orchards here that produce even in midwinter, growing these."


    Lorvaza also ate of the fresh blue fruits, perhaps because the fruits were a miracle of the local land god, who Lorvaza trusted implicitly as a benevolent overseer of Fate. Lorvaza said, "I think the questionable flavour is because Jadarkontalyia wants dragons to eat lightly, but not skip meals."


    "Is speculating about the motives of the land gods a sacred act?" Denziu asked, mild and unchallenging in tone.


    "When we do so in praise of them, I believe so," said Lorvaza.


    "If that¡¯s so, I have a speculation, too," said Kishka the Runepainted. "I think that Jadarkontalyia wanted a fruit that would stay cheap despite demand. The off-flavour is to make them affordable to everyone in Hydalath."


    "Perhaps so," said Lorvaza.


    Lorma also brought back jars of some black substance and a corked pot full of dried blue fruits that had likewise turned nearly black after having been preserved. She assured a sceptical Denziu that the black jars were not an alchemical ingredient. They were fruit preserves.


    Breakfast the next morning saw a jar of preserves trialled hard against thirteen hungry dragons, and after a great and delicious struggle, Denziu conceded that the strange foulness of the glow-juice was missing from the preserves made in Hydalath. Zie also ate a dried blue fruit in curiosity and discovered that it was still a bit bittersweet, though less than it had been fresh.


    "Do you know, I have a third speculation about Jadarkontalyia''s motives, to pick up from last night," said Denziu, seeking Kishka and Lorvaza after eating the dried blue fruit.


    "Oho?" said Lorvaza.


    "Let''s hear it," said Kishka.


    "I think the fruits are edible fresh, but they''re meant to reward patient processing," said Denziu, "Because everything in Hydalath rewards patient processing."


    "Maybe that''s the answer," said Kishka.


    Lorvaza said, "Hm, I think this theome is meant to be massively populous, and so it is not that." She glanced upwards at the roof of the Econo-Shield, and Denziu understood that zie was implicitly glancing upwards at the great bulk of the pyramidal city of flight overhead.


    Choave sought out Denziu just then, as zie was grasping zir wagon''s tongue to pull it into formation. "Denziu!" said Choave. "We''re about to go to Axorus. You''ve never been there, so I wanted to speak to you about it."


    "I read a bit about it," Denziu said, "I''ve a book about it in my wagon."


    "So you know you need to stay with the group, then?" Choave asked.


    Denziu said, "I know. Only the main roads are safe in Axorus."


    "Good! Good. Several of us know the way, and if the caravan stays together we''ll all be safe."


    As the caravan assembled into its 2x6 rows with Oghai''s carriage in the rear (and Orachu pulling that one this time), Choave stepped through his usual dancing ritual to cast a formless smoke into them that made their muscles sing with vigour. By now well-used to the spell, Denziu still enjoyed it. Being able to walk fast under heavy load surely contributed to the joy of the ¡®working holiday¡¯.


    They were soon en route.


    The road north through Polser bisected the southwest and the northwest pyramids, and the caravanserai cluster was in the southwest pyramid.


    Each pyramid had an individual character. Where the southwest pyramid had a great many suspended diamonds in the sky, with great diamond-shaped buildings casting shadows, the northwest pyramid looked to be full of shaped platforms suspended in the air. As the group approached the pyramid, Denziu looked up through the glass of the southwest pyramid into the one they approached. It was full of layer after layer of platform.


    Surely there were several cities worth of dragons in its density!


    The northwest pyramid had an oppressive atmosphere as a result of the many levels of platforms blocking the sunlight. They trudged through gloom at the ground level. This pyramid must be taken up by industry, Denziu thought, for certainly there were a lot of structures at the lower level, and there was a great babble of iron noise from some of them. These structures stood in darkness, here where the land must be grievously unwanted, and yet they had each their own lanterns.


    Ah, the lanterns! The relief from the gloom was the magical lighting of the layer. By their smokeless steady light Denziu could tell that they were each enchanted.


    Seeing all those lanterns, Denziu felt a bit silly for thinking that zie needed any extra assurance of safety such as joining a Tekagoli caravan. Neither guards nor crimes were in evidence.


    Zie wondered if Tekagol was losing something under Baggil''s reign. The crime rate there was not so low. There was a way to have Baggil''s mercy as a criminal: to have great need, never try to kill, and to inflict no ruinous losses. There were some very dubious dragons living in Tekagol who made their way at the expense of others. Enchanted lanterns were too resaleable to be used so openly there.


    Baggil the Great Seer clearly thought it was the best that could be done. Rumour was that charitable plans worked better than greedy ones in Tekagol, but Denziu wondered if Hydalath was the result of many greedy plans working. Which was better?


    Jadakontalyia would say that Hydalath was better, while Baggil would say that Tekagol was better. Each land god was building their own paradise and would surely say that they had made the best world. Was that the purpose of Theoma, to settle a great argument amongst the twenty thousand land gods over how to build the best world?


    These thoughts occupied Denziu across the whole of the northwest pyramid of Polser, and then they were out into the sunlight again.


    The horizons here were interesting. The great bulk of Polser blocked the sight of the two pyramid cities to the southeast of them. Yet ahead of them to the northeast, they could see another pyramid looming up, and off towards the west horizon they could see a great hump-backed lizard of a building whose moderate scale and unusual design made Denziu wish it were on the trade route proper. How populous is Hydalath intended to grow?


    The marvel of megacities didn¡¯t stop Denziu from growing bored as they walked that day. Neither did the blue glows of the tundra. Denziu longed to fly with zir flying wagon, and not be bound to the slowness of the ground. Caravanning with Choave held zir down. Hauling goods from one theome to the next was such an exercise in patience that Denziu was learning respect for haulergons.


    So zie walked without complaining in the middle of the 2x6 order of the caravanners, and Ekis told Denziu how Hydalath''s cities were nothing compared to Axorus, which they were about to visit. Denziu offered "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus" to Ekis, but the cheerful izerah said that there was no substitute for walking through the theome.

 Chapter 23: Axorus

    The legendary Axorus didn''t look like much from outside of it. For some time, they couldn''t tell they were approaching it, and the heated road of Hydalath extended farther into the wilderness than Denziu had expected. There was enough wilderness here that there might be some wildlife for dragons in Hydalath to hunt! It was well into the afternoon when they found something other than that endless heated roadway with tundra and forest beside it.


    Two anomalies reared up ahead of them. Firstly, there was a shining metal archway over the road. Secondly, to each side were large signs proclaiming, "DO NOT CROSS EXCEPT AT PORTAL". A line of twisted metal knots as high as a dragon¡¯s chest spread a wing¡¯s span from each other all the way to the horizon, demarcating the whole of the border to Axorus with a reminder of hazard.


    Past those signs and knots, there seemed to be only more of the interminable wilderness. Denziu imagined that wildlife, unconcerned by signage, had a nature reserve in Axorus where no dragons hunted them.


    The archway over the road seemed to be made of some stout metal with grilles and glowing bits upon it. It looked like some manner of exotic machinery and it hummed to life as they stepped near it. ''Hummed'' was the word. Little glowing bits upon the machine brightened, and a distinctive sound filled the air, and then with a flash across the centre of the archway there was suddenly a portal to somewhere else.


    Past the portal..?


    It was a broad roadway on the high edge of a cliff with stout railings atop it. No longer a heated roadway, they were nevertheless greeted by a summery air that yielded sighs of pleasure from half the caravan, though not from Denziu. The warming amulet was too much here. Zie doffed it and stowed it in a pouch. On the top of the cliff, buildings towered over the road. Past the edge of the cliff, the road offered a view over the endless tops of tall buildings. There seemed to be an eternally setting sun here, blazing the city as viewed from the cliff.


    The road had many turn-offs from the broad roadway they were on, which looked to be built into a larger system of roads. There were strange devices at intervals over the roads, which glowed green or red, and other devices that stood sentinel over crossing lines upon the road, which flashed symbols that Denziu could not identify. There was one symbol when the devices over the road glowed green, and another symbol when the devices over the road glowed red, so that the paired devices were always in sync with each other. It seemed to mean something to the crossing lines. Perhaps it would have meant more if there was cross-traffic upon the broad road in the city.


    There was not. There was no cross-traffic at all, and only that one broad road seemed to be in use. The lights meant nothing to the caravanners, nor indeed to other traffic upon the road, and dragons pulling wagons moved across intersections lit red or green without concern.


    Dragons passed in both directions along that broad, high roadway, and the traffic was a reminder that they were moving between Hydalath and Jiasote, which were staggeringly populous theomes despite being located in frozen Kelkaith. There was a great diversity of dragons here, even a few veserus. Denziu saw all but the deep-under dragons in the crowds, and was particularly surprised to see many kalla. The avian bipeds were too small to pull wagons themselves, but rode in open-sided passenger wagons pulled by other dragons, gawking at the vast city around them. Either a pilgrimage here means something to kalla, or there are large kalla communities in Jiasote and Hydalath, zie thought.


    Every so often, the roads were watched by a gnarlen. They saw others patrolling. That book Denziu had been reading along the way was amply proven in its claim that a community of gnarlen dwelled in this theome.


    The carven dragon statues that walked along the by-roads were the only dragons Denziu saw that day who stepped off the main road in any way. With clanking footsteps the great animate stone dragons seemed to be patrolling the near-roads away from the main road.


    Eventually the group came to another portal. This one was already bright and alive. They seemed to shut down if there was more than a moment''s lull in the traffic, but there was no lull this time to quell the portal.


    On the other side of the portal, another broad road. This one was not next to a cliff and so offered no very special view, but rather it was towered over by buildings on both sides of it. They were great glass-shod buildings like Hydalath''s pyramids. Dozens of them would have fit inside of any of Hydalath''s pyramids, but they were nevertheless gigantic relative to the constructions elsewhere on Theoma, and they numbered beyond counting. Their styles were different from each other in small and unfamiliar ways, a different colour here, a stone facade at ground level there, a capping facade far aboveground on another. Some of them had signs out front thick with alien lettering; a few had signs by their doors likewise inscrutable.


    If zie had not just been in Hydalath, which was taller still, the buildings would have been vertiginous.


    At one point, there seemed to be a pair of the large buildings missing from the grid, and a less ambitious structure had been built in their place. A two-story fortification stood there, an outpost with two gnarlen stationed atop it and welcoming doors touching the roadway. A helpful poster by one of the doors said, "DO NOT EXPLORE THE CITY."


    Shortly after that, another portal. Through the portal, another city.


    This one was seen from above. The road was not upon the ground. Instead of by-road road connections, the road seemed to connect to the top floors of different buildings. Denziu chanced veering out of line to peek over the edge of the roadway, and saw that the vast endless city under them connected in countless ways, all the way down. The buildings were grown into each other in a tangle of skyways.


    Zie kept up the momentum of zir steps and veered back into zir place in the caravan. They walked on.


    Soon, another portal. Through the portal, another city. That was Axorus. It was morning or evening or midday in each city, but Denziu noticed that it was never night. One of the land gods had set up this theome to display something. These cities, vast to the horizon and full of buildings that were taller than almost anything on Theoma... They were a museum exhibit of sorts.


    Of dragons, only the swaivshon built like this, and the largest city of the swaivshon - Polser - was dwarfed by any single world of Axorus.


    When next the caravanners found another cleared area with a fortification run by gnarlen, Choave called a stop to the caravan, and the fortification proved to be a kind of rough inn with guarded wagon berths.


    It was broad daylight, but as they were unhooking from their wagons Choave announced, ¡°We¡¯ve all travelled well into what would¡¯ve been the night.¡±


    They were glad of the stout walls of the caravanserai for something other than protection from thieves: protection from the light. Only inside of that place was there dark enough to sleep in.


    The next morning, Denziu saw something in the areas beyond the dark-shrouded sleeping quarters. There were tours of Axorus advertised by murals on the walls. Gnarlen guides, to avert hostile Fates that prevented exploration in Axorus. The price was expensive, though not as expensive as one of Denziu¡¯s pots.


    "Relics sought! Find an artefact for your own!" said one of the hand-drawn advertisements. "The only way to have souvenirs of a dead world!" said another. They seemed to be pushing the angle that there were treasures to find in the empty cities of Axorus if dragons paid the tour price. There were pictures of objects that Denziu didn¡¯t recognize, brushed in a crude hand. Denziu imagined the stone hand of a gnarlen struggling to hold a brush gently enough to paint with it.


    The group gathered to eat near their wagon berths. The gnarlen were not prepared to offer them anything but meagre supplies intended for saving dragons discovered on the brink of starvation. Fortunately, they had their own rations.


    A gnarlen guard watched them impassively while they ate. Wielding a spear, their sentinel looked like a grey vashael. The false vashael surely couldn''t fly, but still stood in the slightly stooped and big-winged appearance of a vashael dragon, with a stout tail behind.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Denziu wondered what it was like to be a gnarlen. They gave up so much in being animated statues. They were harder than an armoured vrash. That stood out between Jiasote and Hydalath, for these were swaivshon lands, and the furred swaivshon were the dragons of great softness.


    Zie wondered if any of the gnarlen in Axorus were once swaivshon, but decided against asking. A fascinating thought occurred instead, and Denziu asked, "Do you think there are dragons who accept a gnarlen transformation to save their lives?"


    "Surely not," said Choave. "Only necromancers can perform gnarlen transformations, and they also offer healing. A magic healer would just heal such a patient."


    "I wonder. I think it might be true," said Chatulerin. "The gnarlen transformation is more of a transfer, and it''s very restorative while being easier on the necromancer than great feats of healing. If a statue-body were already ready, and the necromancer were not ready to do great healing, perhaps they would save a life that way."


    "I think that would be awful," said Lorvaza. "I hear gnarlen are cut off from Fate."


    There was a clang from the wall that turned their heads, and they saw the guard stepping towards them. By the many Fates, the guard moved with such heavy steps! The gnarlen were not silent if they were not still.


    "We are not cut off from Fate if we wear blindfolds like your own," said the guard in a deep voice. "Pardon my intrusion. I would be happy to talk about being gnarlen if you''ve any questions."


    "Well, did you hear my question earlier? Do any gnarlen become that way to save their life?" Denziu asked.


    "I heard. There is nothing else in here to hear," said the not-vashael guard. "That is something that can happen. In fact, it is stranger than you know. If someone is dying in a Hostile theome, where death of one kind or another is their only Fate, it can be futile to heal them. A gnarlen necromancer can save them better by transferring them to a pocket-sized form, and carrying them out."


    "Pocket-sized?" asked Choave in an aghast tone.


    The guard then held their hands apart just-so, describing something that might fit three to a pouch. "Little vohntrai figures. They can hold a person. It¡¯s a terrible thing to be trapped in one, but the gnarlen transference can be done twice more easily than someone can be healed even once from the brink of death," said the guard.


    "What did you mean, you are not cut off from Fate if you wear a blindfold like mine?" asked Lorvaza.


    "Just as I said," said the guard. "I recognise that you do not move as if you are blind, and I have seen such a blindfold before on other travellers. Gruent''s church, are you?"


    "No, I am not. This blindfold was a gift," said Lorvaza.


    "Ah, forgive me. I think most travellers who wear them are of Gruent''s church. You will find many make that error of you in Jiasote," said the guard.


    "But of Fate?" persisted Lorvaza.


    "If a gnarlen detests being cut off from Fate and begs for Fate''s guidance, the land gods grant it, so that a gnarlen who prays constantly is not beyond Fate. That blindfold begs for Fate''s guidance in every moment. It is just such a form of constant prayer," explained the guard.


    "I''ve a question," said Choave.


    "Yes?"


    "Do you heal if you are injured?" he asked.


    The guard touched their free hand to the forearm of the limb that held the spear, looking down as they did. "If the wound is small enough. We heal, but not well or quickly. We are not quite as durable as inanimate stone, but..." and there that deep voice trailed off.


    "What do you do if you are injured?" asked Choave.


    The guard looked to the group again, and at Choave specifically. They said, "Most of us save up funds to have a back-up body commissioned, so that if we are ever greatly wounded, we can be transferred to a new body when necessary. A great wound in this case is such as you might persevere through. A chunk of flesh may be taken from your limb, and you will not limp forever, but there would be little point in my waiting for such a wound to heal."


    The guard looked to the tip of their spear for a moment, and they were clearly in thought of another thing to say, so the group waited until once more their gaze turned outward. "We are more durable than inanimate stone in some ways, too. I could fall over without losing a limb or suffering any great injury, and yet if you pushed over a statue of a dragon it would likely be too brittle to survive."


    "So you are less brittle, but not quite as resistant to getting cut," said Choave.


    "Yes, but I hope you do not go fighting gnarlen with these insights. You will find we are still quite resistant to getting cut. All things are relative," said the gnarlen guard.


    "What do you do to pass the time?" asked Chatulerin.


    "The same things as anyone else does. Board games are popular among gnarlen. Although it¡¯s also a little easier to just watch the world go by, for us. We have no bodily needs. No aches. No cramps. No hungers."


    "Do you lose track of time?" she asked.


    "For a while. Not forever.¡±


    A voice spoke up that startled half the caravan, as Sharisen the Sociable decided to ask a question: "Is it true that the sun never moves in Axorus?" It was not exactly a question about the gnarlen, but it was still a good question to ask a local.


    The gnarlen guard nodded. "Perhaps I shouldn''t have said we don''t lose track of time. We do find time is immeasurable here," they said. "For the sun is in one position or another over each of the ancient abandoned worlds of Axorus, and it doesn''t move at all, and our bodies give us no cues."


    Orachu asked a question next, and Denziu wondered if the rhythm had been caught, and now they were implicitly all taking a turn to ask a question. In this thought Denziu did not miss the question itself: "Do you want some bread and honey?"


    The guard shook his head, and Denziu noticed that these motions at least were soundless. The footsteps of the guard reflected the weight of stone, zie decided, for there was no grinding of stone in the nod or shake of a head, and likewise no sound in the motion of the not-vashael''s neck. ¡°It¡¯s not just that I don¡¯t hunger,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t eat. I miss food¡­ though I miss meat more than bread.¡±


    ¡°Bread¡¯s cheaper,¡± said Orachu.


    The gnarlen chuckled. ¡°Not this far into Kelkaith. Hard to farm north of Tirrtian. Dragons around here rely on hunters.¡±


    Omrezen asked next, "Have you ever gone on a hunting trip, since being turned into a gnarlen?"


    "Only in a manner of speaking," said the guard. "Dragons occasionally get lost in Axorus, though we try to discourage all unaccompanied exploration, and so dragons turn up at our guard stations frantic that they''ll never see again whoever it is that wandered away from their camp. When that happens, we send runners - literally izerah gnarlen, most of the time - to the other posts up and down the through-road so that they''ll question passers-by. Most of the time, someone got sick of the company they were keeping and set out ahead, so that the runners have only to catch up to them and put the worry down that way, but we still also send out hunting parties to scour the near zones of Axorus for unaccompanied wanderers. I''ve been on such ''hunts''. That service saves lives."


    "What is your favourite theome?" This question came from Honom (who was known as ''of Mosdenechrak'', Denziu thought with wry amusement).


    "Hydalath," said the gnarlen guard. "I work here in Axorus, because I cannot fly to work in Hydalath, and I worry that there are dragons going missing here and not there. But when I take my vacations from here, I do so in Hydalath, to admire their latest constructions."


    There was then a lull in the conversation. Lorma, Oghai, Mosdrao, Kishka, and Ekis had all asked no questions, but though the conversants looked to one or another of those who hadn''t spoken, it seemed that they had no inclination to speak. Eventually Oghai stood saying, "This has been a delightful opportunity to meet someone unusual, but I think we''ve all finished our breakfast by now and should be preparing to leave."


    "Are you interested in tours? We claim only our fee; if you find anything of note in Axorus, that belongs to you," said the gnarlen.


    Mosdrao said, "I''ve been on several, unfortunately. The rumours that the cities are barren are quite true. I''ve seen more than my share of empty rooms with no furnishings in room after room of these buildings. There are rarely any artefacts to claim."


    "There are other visions," said the guard, holding an open palm towards Mosdrao. "It''s up to Fate whether the rooms here are empty or full. We have seen both."


    "Alas, I have only seen them empty," said Mosdrao.


    Choave said, "I''d love to say that means Mosdrao shouldn''t attend a tour, but we shouldn''t split the group. It''d be all of us or none of us, and I think we should move on towards Jiasote rather than staying for a day to try to loot a probably-barren city."


    So the group moved on. Choave reorganised them slightly, so that the front rows were taken up by Mosdrao and Orachu, and in this rearranged caravan now it was Omrezen and Lorma who were in the second row. The third row (just ahead of Denziu) was Honom and Choave, while the fifth row (behind Denziu) were now Kishka and Chatulerin. Choave had gone from the first row to the third, while Kishka had gone all the way from the front of the caravan to being behind Denziu. Lorvaza and Sharisen were in the back rank, with Sharisen pulling Oghai¡¯s carriage.


    When Denziu asked Ekis why they rearranged, Ekis said that it was because they would be reaching Jiasote that day where they might encounter slush upon the road. If that happened, they would all prefer to walk after the vrash rather than before them.


    There were more arches and more cities, but though each vista was an awesome variation on a city that stretched to every horizon, they were merely the backdrop to a long walk for Denziu. Eventually, and Denziu couldn''t estimate the time as the sun had been at various points immobile, they found a final archway whose activation showed them once more a great tundra, and now they were so far north that they walked into Jiasote with the snow falling around them.

 Chapter 24: Jiasote and Mania

    Courtesy of the snow falling in Jiasote, they walked in a broad silence. They were so far north that the northern horizon had developed a kind of looming blackness. The Deathwall stood in the distance, still most of four theomes away and already looming vastly.


    That blackness was the northern edge of everything. There was nothing beyond. With no land gods to hold reality together, everything faded unless held together by the will and wisdom of a lesser divinity. Only a few legendary dragons could survive within it. As there was nothing to find save ghosts and illusions, stepping off the map was more of a philosophical journey than a practical one.


    Denziu had been taught this much in childhood geography lessons. It hadn¡¯t occurred to zir in planning to walk the Tachanigh-Kelkaith that zie would see the northern edge of Theoma. Seeing that blackness ahead on the horizon from the archway at the northern edge of Axorus was a shock that filled Denziu with awe.


    Slush on the road was unbearably mundane by comparison. There was definitely no slush upon the road by the time Denziu walked upon it. The vrash in the caravan did more than leave footprints in the snow. Their every step obliterated the bad walking surface, leaving a reformed and perfect roadway after three rows of vrash caravanners had walked upon it.


    This was the same power that Denziu was accustomed to seeing keep vrash farm soil conditions perfect. The vrash farmergons had to learn what perfect soil was, and then enforced it. It had been Denziu¡¯s business to supply them every year with test soils that might improve upon their understanding of perfection.


    Denziu wondered anew if the roads had been built by vrash themselves. This couldn''t explain elevated roads as seen in a few theomes, but could it explain the smooth stone surface that they were used to? Likewise to the farmergons, Denziu supposed that vrash road-builders had to be taught what a good road surface was like, but after that could they not spread ''road'' the way they spread other conditions underfoot?


    Zie had seen good farmland spread in wasteland underneath the footsteps of a vrash trying to establish a homestead in poor soil. Zie wondered if wasteland had ever been spread in good farmland under the footsteps of a bitter vrash.


    On second thought, slush on the road was awesome, because it gave Denziu the opportunity to watch in real time as the vrash ahead in the caravan reformed the road.


    The novelty wore off with time and fatigue. They had gotten out of Axorus past noon, and it looked like they would be camping in the wilderness, for they saw at first not a scrap of civilization. Yet Oghai was dispatched across the caravan to hurry them onwards when they flagged in tiredness, and so they kept marching well into the evening until they could spy a vast spire upon the horizon. A city glowed against the northern blackness.


    There were three cities in Jiasote, known as Grief, Trauma, and Mania, of which ''Trauma'' was the capital. Denziu had never seen any of them, not even in pictures, but had read that they were grand structures of swaivshon architecture with some vashael aspects, in that each one involved a hoisted ring of city-platform (such a ¡®sky city¡¯ being a vashael style) raised up off of the ground around a core of swaivshon unified structure.


    The southernmost city was Mania, and that was the spire they could see on the horizon. Yet they had certainly not reached it, and night was falling, so Choave directed them off of the main road and onto a minor road. After a modest amount of further walking they turned into a campground with paths and cute little pathlights. This was clearly a recreational site rather than a caravanserai, but Choave considered it suitable, and after a brief conversation between Oghai and an attendant, the group set up their wagons two to a campsite in a cluster of the campground.


    "Are our wagons safe here?" Denziu asked Ekis, self-conscious of the two flying wagons set up exposed in a campground in a theome renowned for its somewhat maddened residents. Mania was not the city in whose shadow Denziu wanted to take risks, and would a recreational site really protect them?


    Ekis said, "Jiasote is a theome of mind control, Denziu. There is no crime here."


    "Mind control?" Denziu asked, wide-eyed.


    "That''s why Gruent''s church is so keen on teaching dragons to trust Fate. Here, Fate is everything."


    Denziu was still shocked. "But to be so abrupt. To just call it mind control! Are we not in possession of our own wills, even now?"


    "A visit to Jiasote does no harm, Denziu. That is the promise of this place."


    In the one sense, Denziu was duly reassured by this feedback. The campsite was an unconventional albeit comfortable enough place for the group to rest overnight. Was this how the dragons who came for healing in Jiasote spent their time..? Camping? It was harmless enough and if Denziu''s wagon was safe it was wonderful.


    In another sense, Denziu was alarmed by the ease with which Ekis spoke of mind control. Zie''d heard the stories of dragons praising Jiasote as a place of healing, and zie was surrounded by a pleasant campground. Were dragons mind-controlled to come here? Mind-controlled to place pretty little pathlights along the way? Mind-controlled to... to leave the path-lights alone, Denziu supposed. It was the lesson of Northwest Polser again. Hydalath had a heavy Fate, as urban theomes tended to, and that protected the enchanted lanterns outside the doors of buildings in the dim understories of Northwest Polser. Jiasote had one of the heaviest Fates possible, and that was here protecting the little path-lights which might otherwise be lost in such an unobserved and distant place as a campground on the edge of wilderness. They were the pettiest and weakest of magic lights, naught more than little bits of colour along the path, but dragons might still steal such a thing and try to sell it on.


    It was a terrible thought. Denziu wasn''t sure zie believed it. Zie went to seek another opinion, and sought Choave. Now, right at that moment Denziu overheard Choave saying to Kishka in a grumbly fashion, ¡°Do we even need to take a day at the market in Trauma?¡± Denziu was tempted to interject in defence of zir plan to sell the bolts of silencing cloth zie''d acquired in Mosdenechrak, but zie could tell by the tone of Choave''s voice that there was no great risk of the market day being cancelled.


    So zie merely waited patiently, and seeing zir, Choave said, ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±


    Denziu asked, "Are our wagons really safe here?"


    Choave looked around for a moment. "I don''t see us torching them ourselves," he said. "Everyone is safe in Jiasote; so much so that some dragons find it awful beyond trusting."


    "How can safety be awful?" Denziu asked.


    "Dragons are different while they''re here. More regular. More predictable. More well-behaved, even if they weren''t the kind of dragon to be well-behaved at all," said Choave.


    "I don''t feel any different.¡± Denziu spread his wings and looked at them.


    Kishka said, "You do not need this place much."


    "Right.¡± Choave tilted his head. ¡°You seem nervous."


    "Ekis called this a theome of mind control.¡±


    There was a shared ''ah'' moment between Choave and Kishka, and then Choave said, "There are more than a dozen theomes known that way. Places where Fate is very powerful and influential in day-to-day life."


    "You should trust it," said Kishka. "We are Tekagoli merchantgons. We believe in Fate even when it''s being used by disreputable benevolences like Baggil, and Gruent is no disreputable benevolence."


    That did seem calming. It was strange to think of Fate as ''mind control'' - wasn''t it probability? "Serafustin took away my Tekagoli charm," Denziu said.


    "Well, maybe you shouldn''t be a Tekagoli merchantgon," said Choave. "Although we like having you. You seem to have a good Fate, haha!" He laughed while Kishka grinned.


    Denziu was still ill at ease, but zie had no more excuse to talk about safety, and went back to zir own campsite where zie found Ekis puffing at a campfire to get it going. They had many campfires instead of shared provisions that night, and Lorma went around the campfires distributing supplies for everyone to make their own bread-on-a-stick. It was flour, pearlash, and water, with a little bit of salt.


    After mixing the dough and flattening it with their hands, they cooked it wrapped around sticks over the campfires. The result... was marginally edible despite a horrible alkaline aftertaste. It was nowhere near as good as the other breads that Denziu had eaten along the way. Zie felt bad about disliking it, as to show up with the ingredients for cooking it, Lorma must have bought them at Hydalath for the purpose of cooking them tonight. Even the pearlash must have been purchased, for the caravanners did not cook over campfires often enough for Lorma to have made lye and boiled it to a salt.


    Perhaps in protest of the bad bread, Omrezen went around the campsite recruiting for a hunting trip to stock the caravan with fresh game to eat. The proposed excursion would delay the caravan by a day while the hunters departed from the campsite into the wilderness around Mania. That got Lorma arguing stridently for the caravan to remain on schedule, as they would otherwise reach Trauma the next evening, where they could just as easily and with a much more vegetable-friendly selection restock.


    The argument drew the caravanners out of their campsites and into the middle of the cluster. Denziu got the impression that if Choave put it to a vote, Omrezen would win. The assembled dragons were carnivorous!


    Chatulerin raised the point that free food would be a blessing. Food was not cheap here in the industriously overpopulated northlands of Kelkaith. The caravan bled money feeding thirteen dragons on final approach to Wraquo.


    All this went around the campsite in discussion, but Choave stood against it. He said, "You lot should realise that if everyone hunts on that justification, there won''t be hunting grounds anywhere for very long. Let''s leave the hunting here to vacationers taking a kill with Gruent''s blessing, and not go trying to seriously feed ourselves that way."


    Denziu was astonished. A place where dragons weren''t to feed themselves by hunting? Tekagol was like that, but there was no wilderness in Tekagol; all the land there had been plated over with farms. It was unthinkable in Denxalue or Nidrio that dragons weren''t to hunt. There was wilderness here, and... Denziu glanced over at the spire of Mania on the horizon. There was wilderness here, and swaivshon architecture looming over it.


    Swaivshon architecture probably meant that there were enough dragons here to eradicate the wilderness, and that they were being careful not to do so.


    Mind control, Denziu thought. To keep everyone from hunting out the taiga. To keep everyone who needed construction materials waiting on shipments of expensive imported supplies rather than cutting down the forests for ready timber, too.


    There were forests in Tekagol, Denziu reflected. For forestry projects. That took no mind control, but merely patience to match the growing rate of trees.


    Zie wanted to talk about this with someone, but the evening was wearing on, and so Denziu laid down still thinking about forestry. As zie lay near the fire, zir thoughts were busy wondering if keeping the environment when so many dragons lived near it took mind control. Zie had just about decided to pester Honom and Choave when zie fell asleep.


    Denziu had mostly talked to Ekis along the way, with the 2 by 6 arrangement of the caravan putting most of the caravanners out of range of convenient conversation while they were walking. There were wagons stacked high with wood in the way, after all. With a great bellow, one could speak so that the whole caravan could hear, but there was nobody who could do that for very long and no conversation proceeded that way.


    With a more moderate shout, and only a tolerable amount of wear to the vocal cords, one could speak to the dragons in the rows ahead of or behind oneself. That was what Denziu did that day, as they walked first towards and then past Mania.


    "Honom," called Denziu, speaking to Honom, who was the dragon directly ahead of zirself in the rows of the caravan. "Do you think forestry requires mind control?" This question, Denziu supposed, could also be overheard by Kishka and Chatulerin, who were presently behind Denziu and Ekis.


    "What!? What a strange question," said Honom, "Why did you ask that?" This answer, Denziu supposed, could also be overheard by Lorma and Omrezen, who were presently ahead of Honom and Choave.


    "I was thinking about how many dragons travel to Jiasote!" Denziu said, and indeed they weren''t alone on this road, but there were a surprising number of other dragons going in both directions upon it. The road traffic was pressed aside by the caravan, whose pace was slowed by forging its way through the river of scales. "I was thinking about how healthy the taiga here looks, and how we just spent a night in a... in a place for enjoying the wilderness! We''ve passed a few other minor attractions! And there are SO MANY DRAGONS!"


    A brief silence. Honom was pulling a full-weight wagon, so Denziu waited patiently for the other dragon to gather his breath. Then Honom said, "But why does that mean forestry might need mind control?"


    "Somehow all of these dragons do no harm to the environment despite their numbers," said Denziu, "And I was wondering if the environment here is good despite the population because of mind control!"


    Choave took a turn in the conversation. "You''re focusing too much on Jiasote being a mind control theome!" he said, and of course there was so much exclaiming between them because of the need to speak up to be heard over the wagons.


    The rest of the caravan was quietly straining their ears in curiosity of the conversation between different rows, which helped.


    Ekis said, "No zie''s not! This is one of the strangest, no this is THE strangest place we visit every year!"


    There was some grumbling at that. Nobody shouted a retort loud enough to hear, but Denziu imagined they were complaining that Inaildoro, Lorilaine, Axorus, or any of a number of places might be stranger.


    Kishka, behind Denziu, spoke up and said, "Did you know that the geomancers rate Jadarkontalyia as a level 5 Fate controller?"


    "I have no idea what that means," said Denziu, turning zir head to angle the reply back towards Kishka.


    "It means we''ve been to one of the theomes that is almost considered a mind control theome, and nobody considers Hydalath very strange," said Kishka.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    But Chatulerin burst into laughter next to him and said, "HYDALATH has been building castles in the sky! They are VERY strange!"


    Ekis said, "Imraziu is a level 2 Fate controller, which isn''t mind control levels at all, and there are forestry projects around Tonturaseer. And the lumber we¡¯re carrying is from Rhianasril, which is a MISSING theome! Forestry doesn''t require mind control."


    "How do you know that Imraziu is a level 2 Fate controller?" asked Denziu. "Where do you learn that?"


    Ekis said, "Imraziu is very proud of using Fate less! If you read enough about Tonturaseer specifically in the Querent-Querent libraries, you''ll find it, and then you can ask the librarians where to find more about what it means."


    More silence.


    "I think forestry only requires self-control of the mind," Honom said, calling back to Denziu.


    Denziu started to reply, but Choave cut across just then by shouting, "THAT is what Jiasote is really about, Denziu! Gruent controls the mind to teach control of the mind to dragons! He leaves dragons controlling themselves more afterwards!"


    Whatever zie''d been about to say, zie forgot it thinking about what Choave said, and indeed Denziu was quiet for a while thinking about self-control of the mind. During this pause in the conversation, Oghai ran the length of the caravan delivering water to the conversants while they recovered from shouting around the wagons.


    Eventually, Ekis said, "There''s actually a saying in Jiasote. ''You can''t live forever in X'', where X is the name of one of their cities. So ''You can''t live forever in Grief'', to name the most popular version of it."


    "Because dragons move on," said Denziu.


    "Right," said Ekis. "Then there''s ''You can''t live forever in Mania'', which is a kind of warning for the dragons who need Mania''s services that they need to learn to control their minds."


    Denziu said, "But it''s literally false, isn''t it? You can live forever in Mania. It''s easy. Nobody dies in Jiasote." Zie wasn''t sure about that claim, but somehow it felt very right.


    Ekis said, "It''s about the state of mind. The dragons who need Mania-the-City can live forever here, but they have to overcome their need of the city to live forever elsewhere."


    Choave called back adding, "Helping dragons overcome their need of Jiasote is what Gruent specialises in! If someone needs him forever, he''s failing them."


    Mania was on their left shoulders as they spoke. The great city was no longer a lit spire against the black northern horizon, but after a morning of walking towards it was now a great glowing presence to their left as they walked along a road that skirted it. Luminous coloured fog trailed from the great hoisted city platform. Looking at it, the city seemed to be mostly on the platform rather than in the great central spire. There were dragons in the air here flying between different points in an exposed city thrust proudly up into the air.


    That is vashael architecture, Denziu thought, thinking also of the two nameless little cloud villages in Denxalue where only vashael lived. It was a vashael thing to live far from the ground.


    The waterfalls of colourful fog that trailed from Mania''s city platform were a strange choice. They looked so bright. Mania looked like a very colourful place. Denziu wanted to fly up there and see the city, to at least spend a day at the market in Mania. Not for the first time, zie regretted the strictures of travelling in a caravan, though zie suspected that it was preserving zir ability to do this and turn a profit.


    Actually... Would Mania''s market be a better place for zir silencing cloth and pottery than Trauma''s market? These were such big cities that it was unthinkable that they would not each have a prosperous market. Mania looked colourful! They might appreciate colourful pottery!


    "Hey, Choave!" called Denziu. "Do you think I should pull away and fly to sell in Mania?"


    "You might sell a pot here, aye, but I don''t think you should," said Choave.


    "Why not?"


    "These dragons don''t need your pots, they need to perfect their own arts!" said Choave.


    A city of artists! That only hardened Denziu''s resolve. "If they''re artists here, there has to be a true art vendorgon somewhere in Mania. I may be able to come back with an empty wagon, Choave! That kalla Serafustin showed me might LIVE here!"


    "Alright, alright, ALL STOP!" said Choave, bellowing that last phrase. The caravanners slowed and stopped. When they''d stopped, Choave said to Denziu, "Go ahead and fly to Mania looking for buyers. You know what we look like and can spot us from the air farther on. If you break away before the close of market in Mania, you may be able to rejoin us tonight before we reach Trauma."


    So Denziu pulled away from the caravan, and with a great leap of zir powerful hindquarters zie took to the air. Buoyed up by the amicus breeze that swirls around vashael, zie flew swift and true towards the colourful city on the platform ring. The thought of selling out zir pottery to a true art vendorgon excited zir greatly. Mania!


    Mania... was not as well-inhabited as it had seemed from afar. Seeing it from above was very different.


    There were a lot of empty houses with some evidence of decay. There were a lot of empty lots, too. The impression of a heavily populated city as seen from below had been created by high demand for the lots on the outermost edge. The buildings on the edge of the ring were the buildings with a brilliant, frightening view. Those were inhabited for the most part, and quite densely at some points.


    Denziu flew slowly over the city ring, gliding on spread wings by the power of vashael wind control. Zir eyes scanned for a likely market.


    Zie saw a city of gleaming clouds. The brightly colourful fog that had been trailing off the edge of the city like waterfalls that evaporated before they hit the ground seemed to hang in the air over many of the streets of Mania. It interfered with visibility from above so that zie couldn''t see entirely as clearly as zie liked. Zie wondered what it was like to see from the ground.


    Where were dragons congregating? Denziu passed over a building of unknown intention with a strange architecture that seemed to draw the crowds. It looked almost to have been grown like a tree of silver metal, with bulbous extensions in its ¡°branches¡± where wide windows looked out upon the city. Denziu had no idea what the purpose of the building was or why there were dragons flocking to it. There was no market space in front of it, but a few other buildings tended the crowd''s desires.


    Another candidate drawing crowds... It was a great wide box with colourful tubes inset along its front. The tubes weren¡¯t merely coloured, but they pulsated with some magic powering them to create an ever-rising flow of colour along them. It was very showy, but it was also another building of unknown intention, Denziu thought with a rising sense of stress. There was nothing like that in any of the saner cities zie¡¯d encountered so far.


    Zie couldn''t identify many of the buildings from the air. Mania was such an alien city to Denziu. The abundance of empty lots meant that Denziu could put down anywhere, but where would be a good choice?


    There, a building whose purpose Denziu thought zie could recognise. It looked like a cathedral. The bright colours of the cathedral were strange to Denziu, for it was all green glass and sharp-angled white trusses, hoisting aloft a symbol of faith that Denziu didn''t recognise. It was like a four-petaled flower. What did that mean? Did they worship Gruent here under that symbol?


    Denziu thought of the last major structure of faith zie had visited, the ziggurat with the internal meditation labyrinth in Mosdenechrak. That had been a church of the faith of darkness and silence, from which part of Mosdenechrak Denziu had acquired the four bolts of silencing cloth that zie had hoped to eventually sell in Jiasote. This partially decayed, overbright city called Mania didn¡¯t look like it had a church of Uttermost Dark anywhere in it.


    There were a few market stalls out front of the cathedral-like building in an open town square. It wasn''t a church of Uttermost Dark, but would this still be a good place to move silencing cloth?


    It might be. If these dragons all lived crowded into the outermost ring, they had neighbours. If they were dragons who had ruined their lives with impulsive enthusiasm, they might have bad neighbours. Dragons with bad neighbours could use silencing cloth even if they weren''t using it to create something more valuable. Denziu resolved to try the market here.


    Zie opened zir wagon in the market square before the cathedral, and then... walked away from it. No crime in Jiasote, right? Zie took a few minutes to look at the other stalls in the market. They weren''t far from the outer ring of the city here, likely to better tend the crowds. Denziu wondered for a moment what kind of merchantgon might prefer the inner ring of the city. Were there any?


    Denziu had mixed feelings upon encountering a pottery seller with artful goods that looked like they were fit for display as well. Zie enquired about prices, praying for something astronomical; zir mixed feelings turned negative when the prices returned as merely what struck Denziu as reasonable. Were the stonewares on display meant to be used carefully, then? At this, the seller laughed and said, "These are not museum pieces! Look, I have here ten plates with identical patterning, and more of this pattern crated in my warehouse."


    Which was heartening in its way. Denziu was trying to sell museum pieces. "Do you know anyone who trades in truly unique ceramics?" zie asked.


    "I know a few studio pottergons who try to sell their latest creations at too high a price," said the pottery vendorgon, demoralising Denziu once more. Competition! "Do you want to know where their workshops are?"


    Zie shook zir head and walked away. Studio pottergons might know where to sell at such prices, but would they assist a dragon from far away in selling goods..? Not three metres from the vendorgon with the pottery, Denziu froze mid-step, thinking of the healing hand of Gruent on all of Jiasote. This place would be more cooperative than most, zie decided, and went back to the vendorgon. "I think I would like to know where those workshops are. Which one do you think is friendliest?"


    So Denziu got directions to a cluster of three pottery studios, reassuringly near each other, as though the pottergons of Mania had gathered together to share in their interest. Zie closed up zir wagon and brought it along.


    Zie soon found zirself surrounded by a trio of dragons, two vrash and a vashael. They were purple, blue, and red respectively. The first workshop zie had approached had soon disgorged a red-scaled vashael into the street, eager to see Denziu''s pottery, for which reason Denziu had opened up the wagon and started unwrapping pieces. After that an excited dragon had rushed to the other two pottery studios, and the three pottergons had mobbed Denziu as zie unwrapped the rest of the pieces.


    "The best is this one that depicts two dragons meeting in a forest," said the blue vrash.


    "I prefer this one with the delicately depicted flowers," said the red vashael.


    "Oh, but why are they all great big storage vessels!" bemoaned the purple vrash.


    Denziu smiled as zie said, "The artists who made these were making great big storage vessels for the great big storage vessel market in Denxalue. They didn''t know I''d be picking through their products for the best paintwork."


    "But these look like they were intended to store grain in," said the purple vrash. "Who has a display plinth big enough for one?"


    "I''ve sold six so far. I''ve cleared three fourths of the count I started with!" said Denziu proudly. Not that zie''d gotten ideal prices for all of them, but nonetheless zie was turning a profit. Zie just had to ignore how many years it''d taken to put the collection together.


    "In fairness, I think you could set one of these on the floor and get a decent atmosphere out of it," said the red vashael.


    "Do you want one?" asked Denziu hopefully.


    "Yes," said the blue vrash. "It''d be inspirational. Such detailed work!"


    "But no," said the red vashael, so close as to have nearly interrupted. "I need to work on my own style more. If a vase be a decorative pot, this vase would be ungainly."


    Denziu looked to the blue vrash.


    "Would you take a swap?" the blue vrash asked. "I could give you something that might sell more easily. Something more... conventionally shaped for display."


    To this Denziu shook zir head and said, "No, certainly not. I am trying to sell these pots and bring back the story to the pottergons, so they will know that they can produce things that sell as art and not just as storage vessels."


    "You do not want something you can bring back to show them as art pottery?" asked the blue vrash hopefully, but Denziu held firm.


    "I have been seeking a rather high price for these as well," zie said, and zie named a price that made the three artistic dragons turn shy with ashen faces.


    After a moment of whispered conference just out of Denziu¡¯s earshot, the blue vrash returned and said, "I think I do have something I can share with you that may meet your price." And zie turned and went into zir own studio.


    "That sounds like I''m going to get another barter offer," said Denziu.


    "Yes," said the purple vrash.


    "What do you think I''m going to be offered?"


    Shrugs all around.


    The blue vrash came back out walking on all fours, carrying nothing obvious but wearing an armring that Denziu hadn''t noticed before. "This is a ring of magic sight," he said on getting to Denziu, and he stood to take the armring off. "For an hour a day, it will let you see in darkness. I... used to use the advantage rather poorly, and I think Gruent has been giving me opportunity after opportunity to get rid of it."


    "I''m honoured you''ll take this one," said Denziu, accepting the ring as an immediate source of resaleable wealth. A unique piece of art and a minor magic item were similar in value, but the magic item was much easier to sell. There were far more vendorgons who would accept a ring of magic sight than who would accept an oversized piece of stoneware with fine painting on it.


    The red vashael held out a hand, and the blue vrash nodded. This exchange having occurred, the red vashael hoisted the big pot and carried it into the studio of the blue vrash, this being a task more easily performed with two hands than with one. The blue vrash followed along.


    This left Denziu standing in the street with zir wagon open and only one of the three pottergons standing nearby. As Denziu''s lev-i-quill flicked over a piece of paper to record the event of the sale, the purple vrash looked at Denziu with a curious expression. "You''ve just sold a pot to a pottergon," zie said. "Did you come here intending to do that?"


    "No," said Denziu. "I came here intending to ask you where you sell your pots, so that I can clear the rest of my stock at a price that artists consider good."


    The last of the three pottergons dipped zir head, looking once more ashen. "Barring the occasional windfall, I think you''ll be disappointed. We aren''t prosperous. We sell to vendorgons who sell our work on, but we sell them at... mediocre prices, for the quality. Our luck pays for food and clay."


    "And lodging?"


    "Free, in Mania. Grief, too. There''s no shortage and generous subsidies. Rent is only paid in Trauma."


    Denziu blinked. "This would be a good theome to save money," zie said.


    The purple vrash nodded, then stepped back and stretched zir wings for a moment. "You''d be amazed how many of life''s errors can be abated if dragons are no longer struggling for money. It''s good for dragons... less dedicated to art, I think. We still struggle for money."


    Denziu hmm''d and was somewhat set aback. Zie dithered. The pottergons had no better luck (indeed worse) than Denziu. "Have you considered setting out on journeys across the Tachanigh-Kelkaith to find buyers farther afield?" said Denziu.


    "And leave each other behind?"


    "If you''re willing to haul a wagon for Choave, you could join the Tekagoli caravan that I joined. All three of you."


    The purple vrash winced. "I''m not willing to wear a Tekagoli charm," zie said, and then stood to wave a hand in the air. "I know, I know," zie said. "Short-term pain for long-term gain. But there are so many dragons who''ve been alive from the dawn of time while shying away from Tekagoli charms, you know? I don''t think the gain has been worth it for the dragons who''ve spent all that time in Tekagol itself, and that makes me suspect that sometimes Baggil is just injuring prosperity for long-term predictions that miss."


    "Serafustin did comment on missing predictions," Denziu said.


    "Oh! But you''ve been to Lorilaine!" said the purple vrash. "Serafustin is kind of cute."


    The other two pottergons came back out then. "That pewter placard is a nice touch," said the blue vrash. "I''ve put it on the pot''s stopper and now I know the name of someone I''d like to meet if I ever go to Denxalue."


    "That''s the kind of thing I''m happy to hear," said Denziu. "And what are your names?"


    The blue vrash was named Chahur. The red vashael was named Sharen. The purple vrash was named Lanith. Denziu suggested they might take a trip someday to Denxalue, for Zyrine was not far away if they went to Denxalue, and if they visited the market at Zyrine they might find dragons willing to buy their pottery at more worthy prices.


    Yet a kind of glance passed between the pottergons, and they laughed, not uproariously but in a moderate and awkward sort of way. There was some unspoken objection that they all shared.


    "It would be a long journey," said Sharen. Denziu suspected that wasn''t the true objection, but zie didn''t want to press them.


    "Well, I suspect this won''t be the last time I come to Mania," said Denziu. "Perhaps next time I''ll bring some of the good clay which my pottergon friends use."


    "We would like that," said Chahur.


    They departed on good terms, with Denziu richer by a worthy trade, bearing away a new armring of magic sight. That was zir seventh pot sold. There was only one pot left to sell! Only one of the great and over-refined painted storage pots that Denziu left Denxalue with remained to be sold. Denziu wondered if zie would sell the last one at Evonthe, after all.


    Denziu walked back to the market through a cloud of blue fog that had rolled in over the road.

 Chapter 25: Jiasote and Trauma

    Meeting the three pottergons who pled poverty despite working as studio pottergons producing one-off works of great beauty had been a lot of fun. It had also taken some of the fun out of selling pots at market. Denziu had thought they were the competition. Now zie realised that zie was the competition. Zir efforts to sell high-end pottery into the market were tapping the veins of what Chahur, Sharen, and Lanith needed to survive. It wasn''t a heavy market here.


    This thought tempted Denziu to fly ahead to rejoin the caravanners at once. Zie doubted that they would have made their way all the way to Trauma by now.


    Yet zie stayed the course and went back to that market square zie had noticed, near the green glass cathedral with its four-petal flower held on high, and briefly visited zir wagon again. (How strange it was, thank Gruent, to just walk away from such a valuable thing as a flying wagon!) From the wagon zie took a bolt of silencing cloth, and zie went around to each of the other merchantgons at the market asking if they would buy either.


    There was an enchantment seller as zie hoped, and that was the last Denziu saw of the armring of magic sight. Denziu updated the bill of sale for the pot that swapped for the armring of magic sight to record the price of the armring as well, so that it would be clear that the barter had been a good one.


    The bolts were a bit stickier. The enchantment seller said that while they might have a valuable enchantment on them, they were not of the right kind of thing to sell at an enchantment seller''s shop, which was focused largely on wearable jewellery or ceramic spelltiles. The pottery seller of course had no interest. There was a clothier in the square, but although he recognized the cloth, he said that the cathedral was not in service to Uttermost Dark, and he seemed to consider that to be the whole of the matter.


    The surprise success came from a lantern-seller in the market. The lantern-seller was a black and white (''orca-pattern'') veserus, an unusual sight with no waterways in the vicinity. Tending a large cart displaying row after row of lanterns, the lantern-seller said their home was occasionally beset by anti-necromantic protests at unpleasantly early hours that necessitated sleeping through dragons being deliberately noisy outside. That really perked Denziu''s attention!


    "Why are you the target of anti-necromancers?" zie asked.


    "These are necromantic lanterns," said the lantern-seller, with a gesture over zir stock.


    "Oh!" said Denziu, who was suddenly keen on barter. "Whyever are you carrying necromantic lanterns here? And in the open? Oh, but that sounded bad. I''m sorry. I just want to know."


    The veserus lantern-seller nodded to Denziu. "Forgiven, of course. Taking offence is bad for business," zie said with a smile. "These are a subsidised good in Jiasote. The government is keen to prove to dragons that their will is protected if they insist on protecting it. So each of these lanterns is a little flaw in Gruent''s vision, darkening the theome for its land god to protect the liberties of its residents, and they are much cheaper here than in most theomes."


    They spoke of prices, and Denziu found the price of the lanterns so staggeringly low that zie asked a pointed question: "What stops me from buying up your entire stock to carry it away in my wagon and resell somewhere else?"


    "I would be an unfaithful lantern-seller," said the veserus vendorgon. Zie shook zir head and said, "There is a statutory limit on how many pieces can be bought and sold at once. That said, I could give you the directions to a wholesaler warehouse in exchange for a bolt?"


    Denziu leaned in as zie said, "And you will pay in coin for the other three?"


    The veserus nodded.


    The deal was swiftly completed. Denziu sold four bolts of silencing cloth at an excellent price for three bolts, and zie learned somewhere to buy an exotic good in bulk. Then, zie bought the statutory limit of subsidised magic lanterns, by which action zie walked away from the lanternseller clutching a bundle of three lanternsticks to zir left breast. The lanterns knocked on the ends of their sticks, being not really meant for carrying together like this.


    When zie had packed away the three lanterns, zie decided to fill all the empty space in zir carriage with more of them, and flew at once to catch up with Choave''s caravan. Zie was concerned that zie needed to refresh zir coinpurse to have enough to buy a wagonload of magic lanterns! So the caravan halted along the road for a rest, and Denziu ate a handpie from Lorma while talking about caravan shares with Chatulerin and Choave. They were more keen on this drawdown than they had had been on the last, and gave Denziu better than a promissory note, but a rather heavy sum of coin for the purpose of filling a wagon with a valuable trade good. This was the kind of thing that the caravan''s reserves could profit by! Particularly if Denziu decided to roll the profits back into the caravan, as zie expressed was zir intent.


    As zie flew back to Mania again, Denziu reflected that the caravan was a better place to keep zir savings than ''under a rock'', which was not literally (but quite metaphorically) where zie had been keeping zir coin. Zie resolved when they got back to Denxalue again that zie would bank more of zir savings with Choave to help the caravan trade in more expensive commodities and perhaps shake up its route planning.


    The wholesaler for the magic lanterns turned out to be on the inner ring of Mania. This was a clue for Denziu''s former wonderings about what kind of business would prefer the inner ring: one with a set address and no need to be precisely where the customers are. It was an industrial district with warehouses and workshops, but even here there were clouds of luminous fog roiling along the streets; they contributed no scent, but were as immaterial as the haze of Inaildoro.


    The price at the wholesaler was worse than the price at the market. Inquiring about the discrepancy, Denziu was informed that the subsidised low price was only intended for the end-users of the lanterns. What the wholesaler could promise instead was a fair price, supported by consistently-supplied trade. Denziu didn''t grumble, but bought enough lanterns to fill up the space in zir wagon which had been opened by selling the four grain storage pots zie had moved since Xeladash.


    With a new trade good in zir wagon, zie flew back out over the wilderness of Jiasote. The amicus breeze buoyed zir up as zie surveyed the snowy forests of Jiasote. This was more how vashael should live, zie thought. Doing business in high places, and taking off under the power of their own wings! Vashael architecture made so much more sense to zir now, inaccessible as it might be to wingless species such as izerah, veserus, and kalla. And sometimes, particularly where swaivshon had modified vashael sensibilities, even those flourished in vashael communities, as that lantern-seller did in Mania.


    When zie spotted the caravan again, zie overflew it and landed on the road ahead of them. They¡¯d all seen zir and Choave had no need to call the stop. There was a brief conference with Choave and Chatulerin after which Denziu surrendered zir coinpurse entirely to replenish the caravan''s liquid capital, yielding up as well the whole return from sales of pottery thus far, and thus becoming a notable shareholder again. The near-complete success of Denziu''s initiative on the caravan trail had substantially enhanced Denziu''s savings.


    With that done, Denziu resumed the position alongside Ekis that zie had walked for so many days to get to that point. Playfully, zie fetched out one of the lanterns that had been left upon its carrying-stick, and lit the pale blue flame that could burn forever inside of it. Zie offered the lantern to Ekis, who took it wonderingly. "How much did you pay for this?" she asked.


    "Not too much," said Denziu.


    "I wonder that we might not carry more of them to the south, then. There is a good market for these in Atney, and if Choave knows a distributor who will take them, it will be a very easy transaction to complete," said Ekis.


    "This is necromancy," said Denziu. "The vendorgon said to me that it darkens the land god''s vision. If we are in a mind control theome, it is controlling us a little less for having these."


    "Are you still worried about that?" asked Ekis. "I think if these are available here, they must not stop the theome''s healing Fates from operating."


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Perhaps a little light is harmless," said Denziu.


    "Likewise a little dark, for the land god," said Ekis. She handed back the lantern on its stick, and Denziu extinguished it again, then half-turned to set it within zir wagon. Zie nudged it inside by pushing its stick, and left it there with the stick partially extruding. This was the best zie could do; zie could not fully restore the lantern to its position inside the wagon while pulling it.


    The walk was shorter this time, for a good portion of the journey had been crossed while Denziu was in Mania. Still, Denziu ached with it. They hurried upon the ground, and moved nevertheless at a tiny fraction of the pace that zie could fly. "I wish we all had flying wagons!" zie said aloud.


    "But then you would leave me behind," said Ekis, who had a flying wagon but no wings.


    "Perhaps you could trade with the deep-under?" said Denziu, thinking of the (likewise wingless) myrskor and myrghon that zie had seen at Hydalath''s under-market.


    "And leave behind my good friends? I¡¯d rather learn to fly with wings of my own!" said Ekis, "I mean, while we are speaking of expensive magic."


    "Is there such a thing as a winged izerah?" Denziu asked curiously.


    "Not by Fate! By Necromancy, it¡¯s a super-risky spell!"


    Kishka spoke up from behind them to say, "If you want an alterationist, I hired one to set my scalepaints in!"


    Ekis called back, "That is a much smaller operation! There is almost no risk at all in that!"


    "What¡¯s the risk?" asked Denziu.


    "Alterationism destroys your Fate completely," said Kishka, intercepting the question from the next row back.


    Ekis said, "The new wings can rot off! Or rot can set in elsewhere! Or everywhere! Necromancy breaks the land gods'' protections!"


    "Yeah, because it destroys your Fate! But that heals," said Kishka. "Just stay away from necromancy of all kinds for a few years after!"


    Denziu thought this conversation was totally beyond zir and baffling, but then an idea occurred unexpectedly. Zie asked, "How about dealing with a necromantic healer for a while afterwards?"


    "That''s how you do it!" said Ekis.


    "Or that, yes," said Kishka. "But get a good one. A patient one. Little spells go a long way, even if they don''t seem to fix everything in the moment."


    Chatulerin said to Kishka, in a tone that wasn''t a call across the rows though Denziu still overheard it, "What do you mean that destroyed Fate heals?"


    "Oh," said Kishka, "Only for a moment is it possible to be without Fate. The instant after an alterationist spell completes, you start growing a new Fate. The problem is that you need a substantial amount of Fate built up to protect wings."


    "I wonder if it can be done by geomancy," said Denziu.


    Ekis shook her head vigorously. "Only a land god can grow wings with geomancy!"


    They were lively in conversation about this and other subjects, as the spire of Trauma arose on the horizon ahead of them.


    It was a similar city externally to Mania. The buildings that cluttered the outer rim of the raised city-platform were less colourful. The luminous fog that poured off the city platform like ephemeral waterfalls was a pure white colour. Yet in being a city hoisted up off the ground by a round platform that was supported by arching buttresses from a central spire, it was the same.


    Ground-bound as they were, the caravan went to the base of the spire rather than to the city platform. They found there a welcome centre at the base of the spire that they walked right past, though the main road went to it. Along a side road that circled the spire, they found a great gap open in the base of the spire, where they hauled their wagons in underneath the gleaming metal construct. They entered a great warehouse with platforms large enough to carry four wagons which could rise and fall by unseen force.


    Choave bid them all stop, and Oghai stepped lightly away from the caravan to depart through an office door for some negotiation, and not long after the group was being placed on the rising platforms.


    Denziu was on the second group, and felt vertiginous as the ground fell away under zirself with the steady rise of the platform. It was like the first leap of flight, yet a much smoother and more inexorable force than zie had ever felt before. Shortly after, this was followed by an instant of lightness as the platform stopped, and the four wagons pulled away into another level that looked like the domed interior of a caravanserai. There were other merchantgons here already and the atmosphere was lively.


    When they had all put away their wagons and unlimbered to gather again, Choave said to the assembled caravanners, "We''ll have a day at market tomorrow. Jiasote is often poor despite its massive architecture, so don''t be too ambitious with your prices. And Denziu, don''t sell your new lanterns here. You haven''t filed the appropriate paperwork to get reimbursement yet."


    "Should I?" asked Denziu.


    "You''re not staying for more than a day. I don''t think you have anything to sell here," Choave said.


    "Zie''ll sell with me," said Lorvaza, and Denziu nodded.


    That evening, Lorvaza assured Denziu that fate-charms sold well in Jiasote. The prices attained were a bit low, but the market interest was solid, because the dragons here all wanted new and better Fates. Lorvaza was excited to enter the market at Jiasote with Denziu''s flying wagon making her look better.


    The next day, Lorvaza led Denziu up another rising platform, and this time they exited onto the city platform level. Carrying Lorvaza''s chest of enchanted jewellery in zir wagon and with the lanterns packed away out of sight, Denziu prepared for a day in which selling pots was likely hopeless, but selling enchanted jewellery might work.


    Zie set out one lantern to burn with its pale flame just to seem more like a magic seller. The wagon and the lantern made Lorvaza look so much more like a wealthy, capable enchantment seller.


    Lorvaza spent that whole day actively engaged with customer after customer, recommending fate-charms to them. Meanwhile, Denziu all but fell asleep. The market at Trauma proved one of the most boring days of the entire caravan journey. Zie was unwilling to raise zir voice to hawk zir last pot, which zie didn''t expect anyone to be interested in here in a city so dedicated to healing that it was called Trauma. Besides, it would have been rude to shout while Lorvaza was already engaged with a customer. Denziu knew zie was gaining an easy percentage with every customer just for showing up with the flying wagon.


    The day passed interminably.


    At length, Denziu was roused by an inquisitive customer, a female kalla wearing a coat! Serafustin''s ethereal pink version had not told Denziu what colours to look out for, but after a moment of fascination, Denziu resolved that she was not the kalla wearing the coat that Serafustin had warned Denziu to look out for. Yet she was certainly a kalla taking an interest in the pot.


    Unfortunately, when Denziu quoted a price, she flinched and started to pull away, so that Denziu could tell instantly that haggling was not a way to retain her.


    With a sigh, Denziu went back to being a silent vigil at the side of an animated Lorvaza for a while longer, before zie decided no harm would be done if zie took zir few appropriate goods around the shops. Zie trusted Lorvaza to sell that last pot at some appropriate price (if at all, which wasn''t likely), and went about to the other vendorgons of the market plaza at Trauma asking if they would buy either the bone knife zie''d gotten from Taithorkey or the silencing cloth. Zie collected a number of prices before settling on any of them, and eventually turned in the knife and the cloth to the highest bidders. The artfully carved knife went for a good albeit small price for it was a good albeit small item. Two bolts of silencing cloth went for decent prices one each to two vendorgons, and while the price was not excellent Denziu accepted it as a kind of service to Fate. The bolts of silencing cloth were going to someone in Trauma who would benefit from them. Gruent''s heavy Fate manipulation would see to that.


    At least it was a day of rest! Even though they didn''t part for lunch. The crowd did not yield, so neither did Lorvaza abandon sales! Denziu''s stomach was grumbling for a meal when the two packed up at close of market, and Lorvaza was fairly beaming as she divvied out Denziu''s take. The two of them visited a seller of spiced beef flatbread who had stuck around as the merchantgons were packing up in order to sell a last wave of food to the merchantgons themselves.


    After that, Denziu took zir share from Lorvaza''s good market day to Choave and Chatulerin for one last conference of shares and funds. With zir idea of banking with Choave, zie felt little need now to have assets separate from those of the caravan. Zie ate bread from their stores; why not return profits in a usable form? Next time zie joined in, zie would carry cargo for Choave to repay him. With zir carrying capacity reinforced by zir flying wagon, perhaps zie could pull two wagons next year!


    Here however was a change: zie would be departing the caravan temporarily to travel to Evonthe for most of a week. This was the plan that zie had discussed with Lorvaza at Akima, and zie was still holding to it, for there would be no chance of selling the last pot at Wraquo. The cultured theome Evonthe was a better bid. For staying at market there, zie needed six days of funding for a wagon berth at a caravanserai in Evonthe.


    "Will there be a caravanserai in Evonthe?" zie asked.


    "Oh my, yes," said Chatulerin.


    "It''s a more popular stopping point than Wraquo for luxury goods," said Choave.


    So Denziu received a last disbursement of funds from zir caravan share, and had it recalculated one last time accordingly, and that night zie wondered if zie would be okay departing from the caravan for days at this point, as far from home as zie had ever been.

 Chapter 26: Evonthe

    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 author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    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.

 Chapter 28: The Reunion

    The caravan was still crossing to Wraquo when Denziu got back to them. It was a three day walk from Trauma to South Wraquo and it had only taken Denziu two days in Evonthe to sell zir last pot, so that Denziu in rejoining them flew back and forth for over an hour looking along the roads until zie finally spotted them walking at a brisk pace along the road. Zie called out "Helloooo!" on a low overflight, and then landed ahead of them. They stopped on reaching zir.


    "Did you sell it?" asked Mosdrao as the caravan slowed to a stop near Denziu. For Mosdrao and the other vrash were still in the lead, lest the caravanners encounter bad conditions on the road in the wintry weather that dominated this close to the infamous Nyberinz (which was a snowy glacier where the spring never broke through at all).


    "I sold it!" said Denziu.


    "You shouldn''t interrupt us, we''ve got a schedule to keep," said Choave, who unhooked from his wagon to step to the front and speak to Denziu. "Haven''t you still got a wagon load of magic lanterns? You could be making your way south to sell those."


    "Wouldn''t you rather I rejoined you?" asked Denziu.


    Choave shook his great head, a dour expression on him. "With you giving your income back to the caravan now, I''ll make my profit on your lanterns when you sell them, and they won''t sell here."


    "I''m not actually keen to visit Wraquo," said Denziu, "So I agree in principle that the right next thing to do is to go south to sell these lanterns, but how far afield should I really go?"


    "Allll the way to Atney," said Choave. "You may well use the top market at Akima again, but if selling a few lanterns a day sounds too boring, ask around in the low market at Akima to see if anyone can point you at a major lantern seller. Magic lanterns are liquid commodities and nearly fungible!"


    Liquid lanterns? That sounded strange. And what was fungible? Denziu winced to ask something that revealed a novice¡¯s weaknesses, but zie had to: "What does fungible mean and what''s a liquid commodity?"


    Choave nodded and set about explaining: "Fungible means interchangeable, one lantern works like the next. Liquid means you can convert money to lanterns and lanterns to money if you know where to do it."


    A puddle of merchantgon dragons accumulated near Denziu as they spoke, unhooked from their wagons and grateful for a rest. Lorvaza interrupted the talk of lantern-selling to ask, "How did Evonthe go?"


    For she hadn''t heard what Mosdrao did when the caravan first walked up to where Denziu landed.


    "I''ve sold out all the pots I set out with! For high prices, every one of them," Denziu said proudly to the gathered merchantgons.


    "That took the whole route here!" said Omrezen.


    "We should cheer for Denziu''s success!" said Kishka.


    So the whole caravan went through a round of "hip hip hurray!"


    "What are you all cheering about?" came a bellow from the caravan. Sharisen the Sociable, all the way from the back of the caravan, who hadn''t bothered to unhook for Denziu.


    That inspired a moment of laughter among the gathered merchantgons.


    Denziu looked south. "I guess I should be going. Should we really meet up all the way south at Atney? How far away is that?"


    "More than a day''s flight from here," said Mosdrao.


    "No, just one day''s flight for a vashael, but too many hours to safely fly more," said Kishka.


    "I may be able to complete my business there in three days," said Denziu. "A day to fly there, a day to find a distributor, and a day to fly back. I could meet you guys with an empty wagon back in Trauma''s caravanserai."


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Then do so. You''ll have a free day in Trauma, but then we''ll arrive back with another cargo of tools from Wraquo. Will you let me decide what cargos you carry after that?" asked Choave.


    "I will," said Denziu.


    "Then I''ll look forward to adding you as another haulergon to my ambitions. I''ll see you then!"


    Denziu leapt back into the air.


    The route that Denziu took south was not quite the same as the route that the caravan had taken north. Zie went south over Vormigaunt, which was a cold and frigid theome of little note, and then bypassed the strangeness of Axorus by travelling around it to the east. This took zir over Iskitala, a theome about which Denziu knew nothing save that it was a safe overflight.


    Rather than overflying the dangerous Mount Siastyllodil, zie flew west over Hydalath, and from there followed the road south over Sanadir, Izaeyaranth, and Sybanisk. Zie passed over Tirrtian Pass, travelling south. All of this could be crossed in a day of strong flying with an amicus breeze powering zir with perfect wind conditions. It took too many hours, but Denziu could still do it.


    As zie came round the Serhin Range and saw the spires of Atney in the distance, Denziu suspected once again that flying wagons would someday predominate. Choave''s magic hastened his speed and still crawled compared to the distances Denziu could cross. The final approach to Akima from the border of Atney took much of the day even at the accelerated walking pace Choave empowered. It took less than an hour by air.


    Having been in the air all day, Denziu took zir wagon to the caravanserai under Akima rather than alighting upon the top market. Zir wings were greatly sore from the exercise and zie prayed that the unusual exercise would not cripple zir back on the morrow, for zie had never in zir life flown such a distance in one day.


    Having liked it before, zie bought another bowl of garlic pepper stew from the caravanserai.


    The next morning, Denziu prayed for healing and had no such magic, but despite zir soreness zie still got up. Leaving behind zir wagon in the caravanserai, zie asked the attendant about the markets in Akima, and learned about the low market that unflying merchantgons usually visited with their cargo. That seemed like the right place to go if zie was hoping to sell zir lanterns in one go. To "liquify" them, zie supposed, as zie was trying to make the lanterns "liquid" as Choave had described them.


    A few hours of searching and asking questions later, Denziu had successfully delivered a wagonload of necromantic lanterns to a distributor warehouse. It was the kind of anticlimax zie had wished for with zir pottery, but with meagre profits to show for the lantern run, zie knew zie''d gotten a much better price for the pottery by selling it piece by piece. Doubtless zie could have gotten a better price for the lanterns as well, but zie would have had to spend a long time at it, and this way zie could travel north again.


    Which zie did. At once, in fact. Determined not to take the entire Atney-to-Jiasote flight in one day again, zie set off with sore wings to travel a mere few theomes instead. Better to travel half the distance each day with sore wings than to spend a day in recovery planning to do the entire distance thereafter, zie reasoned.


    A little more than two hours later, zie was returning "Evermines of the Arrakra Vicinity" and "The Mysterious Cities of Axorus" to the library in North Sybanisk for the deposit. It was a relief to hand off the expensive books in satisfactory condition. The library''s deposits were no joke.


    Zie stayed that evening in Izaeyaranth. The inn on the third "ground level" of the minor megastructure of Izaeyaranth was still a good, cheap place to eat; zie explored more of its menu that evening, arriving somewhat ravenous from a busy day.


    The next day, zie flew all the way back to Trauma. Arriving around noon, zie canvassed the markets of Trauma and managed to sell the rest of zir silencing cloth bolts to a perfect buyer: a specialist in enchanted cloth.


    That evening, Denziu visited the Library of Querent-Querent in Jiasote, finding it a gratifyingly magnificent structure with floor after floor of books and great crowds of dragons. It had no exterior facing whatsoever, for it proved to be built into the main spire of Trauma, and to be part of the ''swaivshon'' side of the mixed-architecture city. Zie read for hours there, then afterwards returned to the caravanserai that evening via the peculiar lifting platforms of the spire.


    Zie stayed in the caravanserai the next day and occupied zirself with zir lev-i-quill recording the things zie had seen along the way. Much of the day zie spent holed up in zir wagon berth and just writing until zir mind fogged over from tiredness. When that happened zie went for a walk, enjoying the pure white luminous fog that rolled through the streets of Trauma''s city-ring. What a strange decor! It matched to the white and silver that were popular for the houses, so that the city had a clean look marred only occasionally by pockets of dissident architecture.


    And it was busy! For here the whole ring was packed and dragons dwelled in shining houses row after row, and Denziu wondered why Trauma was so much more populated than Mania. Did Mania have a questionable reputation? Did Fate protect dragons better from the injuries of mania than it did from the injuries of trauma? Was the greater population the result of Trauma''s renown as a sort of hospital city where any injury could be healed over time? There were many possibilities, and Denziu couldn¡¯t imagine who would know the answer. Gruent himself perhaps, but that was not someone who Denziu could ask.


    When the sun was going down, zie returned to the caravanserai, finding happily that Choave and the others had checked into the caravanserai at Trauma. Zie was finally reunited with the caravan.

 Chapter 29: The Return

    The way back was easier on Denziu''s body and mind. Zie was hardened by the exercise of the way and no longer struggling with each market to sell various goods, but filled zir wagon at Choave''s guidance to sell at the distributors of which Choave was familiar.


    Serafustin spoke to zir again when zie got back to Lorilaine. The land god appeared as a pink crystal vashael this time and walked alongside Denziu for a distance telling Denziu about what would have happened if not for Serafustin''s intervention. Denziu would have taken the last pot back to Denxalue only to discover that the artist refused to travel to Evonthe, and nothing would have become of it save a growing resentment. Meanwhile, the kalla would have bought something else, and then almost certainly hated it, which (Serafustin said) she might do anyways with the pot that Denziu sold her, but changing Fate offered her a better chance at being happy with the art in her house. That the two were Fated to walk so near each other without interacting was what Serafustin had prevented by telling Denziu to watch for the kalla in the fur coat.


    Serafustin said one other thing as well, which was curious, "You have broken somewhat with the Fate your mother wove for you, but you will have thereby pleased her greatly. She wove herself into something of a corner giving you the things you sought as best she could. Some of what she hoped for you will work better on the Fate you have now. Probably."


    They loaded up with glasswares at Raldrani while passing Tonturaseer, with Choave calling Raldrani¡¯s glass a major trade good on the southbound leg. The price at Xeladash was pinned by heavy shipping, but they could get a decent price carrying it on to Mosdenechrak.


    Most of the caravan flew over the Xang Sea with Denziu this time, letting the slower ship catch up to them at Xeladash. Ships were necessary for cargo, they agreed, but there wasn''t really much need of staying and resting upon a particular ship for any but the longest crossings. Denziu was pleased to have innovated on their practices and tried to forget that the innovation only happened because Denziu had gotten seasick.


    Taioma sought out Denziu again when they passed Inaildoro and Denziu once more agreed to join her for the night. This time Taioma started with the cake she had wanted to summon before, and so the two had what Taioma called a cake. The ''cake'' stretched the term for it was a dense fudgy monstrosity topped with cookie bits. Denziu ate a slice with Taioma, and once again Taioma did that curious thing of encouraging Denziu to eat more as though it would satisfy Taioma''s own hunger better. Zie still matched Denziu''s consumption exactly, which in that case meant she only got the one slice for Denziu then refused to have more of the heavy confection. Afterwards, Denziu was this time forbidden to bring any back. "They are not ready for a cake like this," said Taioma with comical solemnity. Denziu thought zie wasn''t either.


    Denziu visited the great ziggurat of Uttermost Dark again when the caravan passed Mosdenechrak, and thought zie would probably visit it occasionally by flight forever after. While deep inside the meditation labyrinth of the ziggurat, zie wondered in the silence and darkness there how it was that even when dragons crowded the structure, it seemed like there was always eventually a quiet place to use if one went inside deep enough. Struck by gratitude for that, zie thought with bowed head a quiet prayer that all who cannot find peace and quiet should find a place that protects their silence.


    Finally returning to Denxalue having sold all of the pots, Denziu had a stack of sales slips to show to eight pottergons in the theome. Each of them had the habit of painting even the most utilitarian pots they sold, and so each of them had painted a skillful pattern across a large stoneware pot and then sold it to Denziu as though it were an grain storage pot:


    Zirakkle, who had painted an intricate floral pattern all across a pot, learned that Denziu''s new vest and a considerable sum of gold was fetched for zir pot in Mosdenechrak.


    Denziro, who had painted a skillful though grotesque portrait of Lauvera incarnate on each side of a pot, learned that Denziu had gained a good price plus four bolts of magic cloth for his pot in Mosdenechrak.


    Tasabao the Vain, who had painted the pot depicting Raul''s incarnation dominating the sky over Zyrine, learned that Denziu had gained an awesome price for zir pot in Atney.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Han-Iawo, who had painted two rows of dragons running about a pot in an outdoors environment, learned that Denziu sold zir pot in Polser. The sum was respectable, though not impressive.


    Wendayora, who had painted a panorama of Badyen that extended all the way around a pot, learned that Denziu had sold zir pot in Polser. The sum was respectable, but as it had been Denziu¡¯s favourite pot from the collection, reporting that it was one of the three pots sold for a low sum was rather painful.


    Atherviu, who had painted around a pot the visage of weeping willows in a swamp, learned that Denziu had sold zir pot in Polser. The three pots sold in Polser had sold for a decent price though not as though they were great works of art. Denziu hastened to reassure the three artists that their pots had gone to myrghon and myrskor of the deep-under who would truly cherish them.


    ''Icy'' Vendao, who had painted a picture of a gentle wilderness scene with a dragon implausibly surrounded by animals, learned that Denziu had swapped his pot for an armring of magic sight in Mania. The price of the armring was the price of a minor magic item, and established well that the pot had sold for the price of artwork.


    Finally, Ybury the Tame, who had painted the pot with the dragon poling a boat through the swamp, learned that Denziu had sold the pot all the way at the far end of the Tachanigh-Kelkaith for a sum that was very excellent for a single pot. Denziu added that Ybury would profit more traveling with the caravan some year, as the ''Pan-Theoma Hall of Ceramic Sculpture'' was interested in Ybury''s work.


    All eight pots had been sold to dragons who would cherish them, and the majority had been sold for the price of artwork rather than for the price of pottery. Denziu hadn¡¯t really enjoyed trying to sell a few items dearly like that and thought zie wouldn¡¯t remain an art dealer after the trip, but zie was proud of making a small contribution to breaking Denxalue¡¯s reputation as a great mudwallow that produced nothing of cultural significance.


    Fingering zir vest with its colourful ceramic bands, zie wondered if zie would ever meet Zwerenn again. The vest no longer had a purpose as anything but a relic of the journey if Denziu wasn¡¯t going to try to sell more of Denxalue¡¯s most artful pottery. If there was anything zie still hoped to someday do to help Denxalue¡¯s pottergons break free of merchantgons devaluing them, it would be to draw Zwerenn directly into Denxalue itself. There was a merchantgon who would keep moving their best pots over many years if she were introduced to them directly.


    The vendorgon vest from Zwerenn and the little cornucopia charm of arsenical bronze from Lorvaza were Denziu¡¯s only keepsakes from the journey, though zie also had from Velrilari a copper ring and a small blotchy purple box. They were faintly magical and very durable, yet they seemed to do nothing. The ring might be saleable, but the box was an oddity that might just have to be thrown out.


    The notes zie¡¯d taken along the way might qualify as a greater keepsake than any of those. These zie let zir siblings read. Aleicree was most interested in them, and thought Denziu''s account of Choave''s use of necromancy to be awe-inspiring. "I¡¯ve heard rumour of this spell, but you¡¯ve lived it!" said Aleicree.


    Even though Denziu had spent the journey meddling with necromancy and planning to meddle with it more, Praoziu seemed very pleased with Denziu, and with the gentle strength of a mountain hugged on zir.


    Denziu also kept one of the ever-burning necromantic lanterns as a gift for zir mother. Zie was deeply curious how Praoziu would regard the necromantic lantern. "A curious device," she said. "It truly does seem to me that it sheds darkness when you ignite it, and only with an effort of will can I remind myself and see that it is shedding light rather than darkness."


    Taisach called for a celebratory feast for the family, and Praoziu used the excuse to summon up an otherworldly meal for the family. They ate precisely shaped oddities that had to be cut open from little packets, and Praoziu burst into giggles at some private joke every time they praised the strange food, as though they were eating something secretly ridiculous while treating it as the food of the gods. "You wouldn''t enjoy these foods much if you knew them as they were originally invented," she said, stonewalling their queries, but she was avid and glad that they liked the foods she summoned for them.


    There was a strange final detail in Denziu''s accounts. Having left zir profits from the journey with Choave, zir savings were arguably gone. Zie had lost a goodly pile of treasure with little to show for it besides a scroll tube of paper attesting to zir partial ownership of a caravan. Zie was poorer in coin and wealthier on paper, and zie wondered if that was true wealth at all.


    Taltios made it known that zie didn''t think it was, and laughing said, "You have lost the value of ALL of your pots, every phial of pigment you worked so hard to make before setting out, and almost everything you acquired out there! Baggil took it ALL away! All for that paper!"


    That only meant Denziu was committed to this path. Zie would get zir value out of Choave¡¯s caravan over years persistent, and in the off-season now zie had a plan to join with Ekis as a merchantgon to the deep-under. Even as zie feasted and spoke with zir family, Denziu looked forward to meeting Ekis of Tonturaseer once more in Tekagol!