The Missing Traveller

He let out his breath. It was Eugene, with an expression as frantic as his own.

“The Defenders are here looking for Ronan.”

“I know! I’m packing to leave.”

“Do you have any form of identification, Ali? We’re going to need it, and some coin, to buy a ticket to Bastium.”

Alister dropped the coat in his hand and stared. “Bastium?”

“Aye, yes. The best place to hide is in a big city, and if anyone saw Ronan with us yesterday, they’ll suspect we’re leaving town on arglebon. Get your papers and coins, now!”

A thousand questions spiralled in Alister’s mind about these plans and the Defenders in Delemor, but he did as Eugene told him and tore apart one of the larger sections of his pack, wishing he’d taken the time to organise it. In retrospect, his head hadn’t been clear when he packed it. Since he’d left, Alister hadn’t even bothered to get out anything other than clothes and coin, although he suspected the Poels rearranged it back in Materon. The contents of his life now covered the floor of the inn while Alister scoured the insides of his bag for a glimpse of silver which marked the corners of his Frequent’s Card from Rindor. Eugene’s panic matched his own, and the old man was soon packing his own things.

Finally, his eyes caught on silver and he ripped it out. The Frequent’s Card showed his full name, age, and town of origin, as well as a small photograph and Tahner inscription. Alister sighed in relief and took a fleeting moment to rest his eyes on the mess of the floor.

Their escape from the grasps of the Defenders flew from his mind when he saw it.

The little blue book, so old its cover had begun to rip at the edges, and many of the pages had been sewed back in by the careful hand of his mother. The title, once a bright gold, was faded, but still legible. Geological Phenomenon: Magical Cataclysms Throughout the Union. It was the book Lark had given Alister so many years before, the first day they met. It was an object Lark knew Alister still owned, and most importantly, it was a book which had over eighty-three pages.

“Hurry, Ali! Many people saw us in Delemor, and a red-winged hawk sticks out quite a bit, doesn’t it? The Defenders were in Ganlee about an hour ago, and they move fast!”

Alister dropped the Frequent’s Card—the Defenders and the rumours of their unnecessary brutality he’d heard from Lark seemed trivial now—and snatched the book into his hands, flipping through the pages until he reached page eighty-three. The title of the section read Ores of Mount Era. Eugene kept jabbering on and packing his belongings, but Alister hardly noticed. Ores mined by Deemstun, ores affected by the Stone of Dominus’ release…

He skimmed over the page until he reached an underlined passage. The book used to be Lark’s personal copy, so he’d written and drawn throughout the pages.

Refer to Chapter 2 for a map of magical cataclysms caused by the Stone of Dominus. The area surrounding Deemstun has a high chance of holding ore which was affected by the Stone’s release, however, Deemstun’s reports deny any affected ore.

Alister tore back to chapter two, which displayed a map showing the concentration of the Stone’s effects. Just as the book read, markers surrounded Deemstun.

Deemstun. The Defenders had come looking for Ronan from the secretive city Lark claimed to know more about than the inhabitants of the city itself, and he was one of the only people who saw through Baudouin’s plans for what they truly were: an attempt to regain control over the Union. They were digging into the network of caverns in the Mount, searching for a prized treasure. Lark never told Alister what it was.

Lark never turned up in Oriamen, Brevard had told Alister. It seemed like years ago. The town before Oriamen on Lark’s route was Deemstun. In Alister’s panicked state at the library, he hadn’t been able to put two and two together, but now the merchant’s whereabouts were obvious. After all, where did Defenders come from? Lark always claimed to know so much about the city it was dangerous to boast; did he discover something important enough to put him in peril? He’d told Alister of the ‘king’ Baudouin’s merciless determination before, to find whatever he searched for in the caverns, to keep his true plans from the rest of the Union. Lark said he’d made more of an effort than any of his predecessors to return the Union to his ‘rightful’ rule, and with the apparently selfless generosity he’d seen and heard from Deemstun on his way up to Delemor…

“I have to go to Deemstun,” Alister said in a hollow voice. Whatever Lark was doing, everything pointed to the mining city on the first meridian. If they were looking only for Ronan, and not for Lark, then the merchant’s situation was clear. “Lark’s being held captive there.”

“You’re never going to be able to help him if you get caught here, are you?” Eugene exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and through his thick, white hair. “Let’s go, Ali! I’ve got your things, now bend a leg and let’s get out of here!”

Mind racing faster than his feet, Alister followed Eugene down the stairs and out the door, into the streets of Anison. Eugene packed down all of Alister’s belongings tight in his bag, with enough room for Ronan to huddle just under the hood. They paced as fast as they could without arousing suspicion. Eugene’s voice was low and fast.

“I don’t know what that merchant friend of yours is up to, but he clearly got himself into trouble, and they saw him sending Ronan to you.” Eugene’s eyes darted across the crowd. “The order was passed two days ago, but the Defenders only began to search Delemor this morning. We would’ve heard about it if we weren’t travelling. They said his owner is a travelling merchant with a red wind-chaser and kite. Something about him stealing federation property and threatening to usurp the Union’s leadership.”

“Usurp the Union’s leadership?” Alister echoed. “The Defender at the library said nothing about that.”

Eugene raised his eyebrows. “Whatever it was, we need to leave Delemor.”

The old man led Alister to the corner of Anison, right at the top of the city, where the largest lift Alister had ever seen perched on the side of the Mount.

Eugene talked to the conductors at a desk while Alister squinted down at the city, checking for any signs of a commotion. Coin changed hands and Alister turned to show his identification to the conductor. The lift at the station was at least five times the size of the regular ones in Delemor, and the cords which held it strong and thick. Steam already poured out of a box on the top; it would depart soon. It had yet to register to Alister they were going all the way to Bastium in the lift; it didn’t seem possible to travel twenty elevations so fast.

“We’re taking that lift?”

Eugene gave a curt nod and turned back to the conductor.

“Alister?”

He jumped and whirled around. Not only was strange to hear his full name, but their dash from the inn set him alert. Tarael watched him amusedly as she smoothed out the folds of her orange skirt.

“You’re really quite jumpy, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t expect anyone to be here.” Alister’s mouth pulling into a smile at the sight of her. His racing mind seemed to slow and stumble in her presence. “Well, obviously there are people here.” He chuckled nervously. “But I didn’t expect to see anyone who recognised me here, especially not you. Not that I mind! It’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s nice to see you too.” Tarael’s smile seemed about to laugh. “All these people dislike us too much to bother learning our names. You think you get strange looks as a traveller. Once they find out I’m Zyrulian, it’s either blatant fascination or disgust.”

Alister frowned. “That’s awful.”

“It is what it is.” Tarael shrugged. “Sometimes the disgust is easier to deal with, it means I can just walk away instead of being attacked with an onslaught of questions.” She smiled. “But you would know about that, being a traveller. It’s strange we bumped into each other again today, in a city as large as Delemor.”

In the midst of the chaos as the Defenders searched Delemor, and where most people sent Alister disdainful looks, Alister found his heart lighter in Tarael’s company. Although the girl came from a vastly different city, her friendliness reminded him of Rindor.

It’s travellers, Alister realised. We may be from different ends of the Union, or not from the Union at all…but we have one thing in common.

Alister returned her smile. “Where are you travelling?”

“I’m going home.” She raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “It seems like I timed my return well. The Defenders are swarming through Delemor like rats. I don’t know how you in the Union stand them being around all the time.”

“Why do you dislike the Defenders?”

Tarael laughed once. “I’m from Zyrusdale. We set ourselves apart from the rest of the mountain during the Age of War to get away from organisations exactly like those so-called Defenders. Not that I was alive four hundred years ago, of course. I’m just thankful there’s no chance Baudouin’s minions will be in Zyrusdale.”

Alister shifted from foot to foot. He didn’t want to dwell on the type of organisation the Defenders were. “You know of Baudouin?”

Tarael arched an eyebrow. “Of course. He’s been pressing my archaeologist team for our findings since he was made leader, under an overly friendly pretence, of course. Unfortunately for him, Zyrusdale isn’t willing to cooperate with him no matter how kindly he asks, so he hasn’t the slightest idea what we’re digging out on our end of Mount Era.”

The mining, again. First Lark’s comments, then his message. Baudouin’s search inside the Mount must have something to do with the merchant’s capture.

“What is he looking for?”

Tarael tilted her head. “I know you Union folk typically respect the Defenders, but is it not common knowledge what Baudouin’s looking for? We pieced it together years ago.”

Alister chose his words with care. “People don’t tend to question the Defenders.” Baudouin’s ambitious plans were known by few.

“It’s the Stone of Dominus.”

Alister’s eyebrows flew up. Lark’s clues pointed towards something Deemstun mined from their area, not the ancient stone buried in the centre of the Mount. “What? Why?”

“You know the history, right? When Gamaliel released the Stone, it Marked people, changed the properties of various ores, created The Madness and many other cataclysms…”

“Yes, of course.” Alister’s heart hammered. He’d spent countless hours with his nose buried Lark’s book. It had entire chapters about the Stone of Dominus and its effects.

“It was world changing. If not for the Stone, there would’ve never been the Age of Enlightenment, or the Cleansing…”

“And?” Alister tapped his foot.

Tarael paused. “Think about it. Gamaliel held in his hands, for a moment, power enough to start wars and change the Mount. He couldn’t control it, and so he died and created chaos. But what if he could control it? What if he didn’t die? What if somebody else could control it?”

“Bane of the blight.” His eyes widened. “Baudouin means to use the Stone to become king.” Lark’s message to him finally made sense. It wasn’t just that Deemstun was mining something they weren’t revealing to the rest of the Union. The little blue book highlighted the power of the Stone of Dominus.

“It seems so.” Tarael shook her head. “I wouldn’t worry, though. There’re hundreds of wards surrounding the Stone. He’ll never be able to get through.”

“But all that mining…it can’t just be for the Stone.” Alister’s heart hammered. “What if he found something in the Mount which allowed him to break through the wards? Or something to control the Stone’s release? That travelling merchant with the hawk…what if the stolen property the Defender spoke of was something like that?”

Tarael laughed. “There is nothing which can control the Stone’s release. And those wards require sura and candra, which no Conjurer or Enchanter can touch so deep in the Mount.” But she hesitated, and bit her lip.

“What?”

“It’s…nothing. A legend so old it cannot be true.” Her smile was free of worry, but her eyes stared wide, past Alister. She drew a deep breath. “But…it tells of a stone which can store the powers of sura and candra, used by those on the top to amplify their powers, or to regain their connection. What if…no, impossible.”

A chill ran over Alister’s skin. “You think, if this stone were real, Marked could use it to touch sura or candra, even at the centre of the Mount?”

“But belsandra doesn’t exist.” Tarael waved a careless hand. “We’ve mined for years and never found anything of the sort.”

“Alright, Ali, it’s leaving in a five minutes.” Eugene had returned. “Oh! Where are my manners? Good morning, miss. My name is Eugene.” He gave a short bow.

Alister hardly heard him. He’d known Lark needed his help, but he never suspected he would learn of Baudouin’s plot to take over the Union with the Stone of Dominus. It affected everyone in the Union, not just Lark. By the Divine, it affects the entire Mount! How would Baudouin control its release and use it to force the Union under his rule? When it was released last time, it halved the population of those escaping the flood. How close was Baudouin to breaking through the wards? Had he found this belsandra Tarael spoke of?

I need to stop him. Lark was the only other person who knew of this, and he was trapped in Deemstun. I need to get Lark.

Tarael curtsied in response. The motion seemed unnatural to her.

“Might you be from Zyrusdale?” Eugene said, his usually genuine smile tinged with worry. “Your accent is telling.”

She nodded. “I am. Where are the two of you off to in such a hurry, buying your tickets at the last minute? Is this why you left the library as if it were on fire?”

A grin crept to Alister’s face. “Bastium.” After all he’d heard about it, the city still sounded like a fantasy.

Eugene excused himself to put his bag on the lift. Alister’s remained strapped to his back, and Ronan with it.

“Ah, I see why you’re so excited.” She’d mistaken his fidgeting and darting eyes for excitement rather than stress. “Bastium truly is nothing like any other place on Mount Era. So, did you decode the message from your friend?”

Alister opened his mouth to tell her all about it, to have someone else to share this burden of knowledge, but stopped himself just in time.

“I did. That’s why I’m going to Bastium.” It wasn’t a lie, just an omission of the truth, but that’d still have earned him a day of chores back in Rindor.

Tarael’s eyebrows furrowed and created that small crease again, but she let his ambiguity slide. “What kind of friend is this anyway? Why is he sending you such important messages you’re spending a day in the library trying to figure it out? It sounds like something little children would do to play.”

Alister noticed she’d a way of barely making fun of him, as if they were already good enough friends to tease each other.

“Look, I know it sounds silly, but I believe it’s something serious. Why else would he go to such lengths to get this message to me?”

Tarael raised her eyebrows. “Whatever you say. If it’s so important, why didn’t this friend of yours just visit and tell you in person? Or at least write more than two words.”

Because he can’t. “I don’t know.”

Eugene yelled at Alister from the window to board the lift. It was leaving in a couple of minutes. “I’ve got to go.”

“Alright. It was…interesting…meeting you.” Tarael gave him a dimpled smile and brushed her dark reddish hair behind an ear. “Perhaps we’ll meet again. Good luck with your friend.”

Alister laughed at the idea, however nice it would be to see Tarael again. He was entering into a great deal of trouble, and Deemstun was twenty-six meridians away from Zyrusdale, as far as it was possible to get without crossing through The Madness or the Eastern Falls. “It would honour me. Farewell, Tarael.”

He turned to step onto the lift, and his eyes bulged at the interior. If possible, it was even finer inside than the lifts which sped throughout Delemor. Couches and refreshment tables lined the edges, and even doors to other rooms sat at the corners. At least twenty other passengers lounged in the common room, reading and chatting amongst themselves.

Alister stared out the window and down at the city of Delemor. The one day he had to explore such a huge city, he’d spent in the library. He couldn’t be too upset, however. The next city he would be in would be Bastium, five times the size of Delemor, all built on the largest plane on Mount Era. His mind grasped at the trivial thoughts, eager to suppress those about the danger the Union could be in.

The lift shuddered and rose up Pedrell Road, and Alister took a seat beside Eugene after he placed his bag on the seat.

“So what did you do with Juggle and Fog?” Alister loosened the hood on his bag to allow Ronan to move around without being seen by the other passengers.

“I organised for them to be taken to Farmont. There’re so many people in Delemor. More people than there’re jobs, in fact. For odd jobs which involve a bit of travel, there’s a place in the Romert district that handles it all. It only took half an hour to set it up, didn’t it?” Eugene laughed; it seemed hollower than his usual booming guffaw. “They don’t take animals as large as arglebon on lifts like this. I had to spend quite a lot of my pocket on these tickets, as a matter of fact.”

“I’m sorry for the trouble. You’ve spent so much coin, and you didn’t even intend to go to Bastium.”

What was left of Eugene’s fading smile became a grimace. “Actually, Ali, I’m not going with you to Bastium.” He held out his ticket. “I’m getting off at Farmont in about an hour.” Eugene’s thick eyebrows knitted together. “I would go with you. But I don’t want to be caught up in this business with the Defenders, and if you’re going to Deemstun, I couldn’t have gone with you much longer anyway. I have a family in Farmont whom I cannot abandon. I’m truly sorry.”

Alister blinked. “Oh. I mean, of course. You can’t leave your family. Colleen expects you back home soon, doesn’t she? I understand.” He stared down at his own ticket. It held a stamp Eugene’s didn’t, of a shield with a wyvern curled around it. The symbol of Bastium. Alister would be in the huge, capital city alone.

Of course Eugene would head home. At time such as this, when the fate of the Union was so uncertain, it was only natural Eugene would return to his family. By the Divine, I want to go home. Alister’s chest tightened.

“You know, recently, the Defenders in both Farmont and Materon have been nothing but helpful to me and my family.” Eugene rubbed his beard, and Alister’s shoulders tensed. “And yet I didn’t hesitate to help you escape their clutches today. I suppose I remember how they were five years ago. Ruthless, determined, going on about how their city will one day rule over all the Union. It doesn’t take a scholar to realise, just because they’re acting nice now, doesn’t mean they still don’t have the same burning desire.”

Alister sighed with relief. “I don’t know how nobody else sees it.”

“It’s because people are told their town just got a bad lot of Defenders, isn’t it? But I heard Baudouin’s representatives apologising for them in Farmont, and all the way through Delemor and Ferronlow and Wenmire…and again when I visited Materon. Remember, travellers like us are rare, Ali, and this Baudouin uses each town’s isolation to his advantage. Ask any trader or traveller, and they’d share my opinion.”

Lark, Tarael, and now Eugene. Did their leaders realise what was going on? Perhaps Baudouin managed to win them over. Alister stared down at his ticket again. “What am I going to do in Bastium by myself?”

“I have no doubt you’ll figure this mess out.” Eugene cracked a smile, though his eyebrows turned down. “And I’ll see you again, someday.” He laughed. “You won’t forget to practice your Elin-tor, will you?”

“I’ll do it every morning.” He was going to miss the cheerful man. “I can’t promise I won’t wear a coat and scarves, though. It’ll be snowing before long, and without the sura you have, I can’t stand outside without a shirt.”

Eugene boomed a laugh. “Alright, alright. If you don’t want to train properly, then don’t.”

They bantered on for a while. Alister kept his mind focused on the conversation, unwilling to think too hard about the Defenders, Deemstun, and Lark.

Before leaving, Eugene insisted on giving him the rest of his marks, saying he’d plenty more in Farmont, and Alister would need it in Bastium. Alister accepted after some debate, but he was confident two whole marks would last him the whole winter in Bastium.

Eugene’s smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “It truly was a pleasure to meet you, Ali. May the Divine speak to you, and shield you.”

“Thank you.” He found himself unable to express his gratitude. “Really. Thank you, Eugene. I could never have come this far without you.”

Eugene grinned, and slapped Alister’s shoulder. “Write to Farmont, if you get the chance.”

Alister assured him he would, and Eugene stepped off the lift. Alister heaved a breath, and the doors closed.

The red-winged hawk somehow knew to keep quiet, only moved occasionally to stretch his mending wings.

The conductor announced Bastium was only another hour away, and Alister stared out the window for the most part, when his eyes weren’t glued to passages from the little blue book about how the Stone was cast into the centre of Mount Era one week after Gamaliel released it. The lift station had been on the edge of Farmont when it drifted past, but Alister caught glimpses of fine wooden buildings and pathways, surrounded by vines and trees. Pedrell Road became Nepton Road as the lift whisked from Farmont to Bastium.

With Eugene gone, Alister couldn’t be distracted for too long from the situation. What am I going to do? He was only a boy from Rindor, but who else knew about Baudouin’s plan? He’d already decided against going to Bastium’s Council; they’d likely been deceived by Deemstun, and it would only draw attention to himself. If none of the cities in the Union would help, that left him only with Zyrusdale.

But first, he had to get Lark out of Deemstun. The merchant knew what was going on; he must’ve had a plan to stop Baudouin.

What would I have done if I hadn’t left Rindor? Alister wasn’t certain he’d have been willing to leave his home town, even after he understood the note.

He needed to go to Deemstun, but for that he’d need a Deemstun Seal, which was notoriously difficult to acquire. There would surely be places in Bastium that handled the distribution of Seal Cards. I’ll get a Seal Card in Bastium, and then leave for Deemstun as soon as possible. He pushed his worries of the Defenders away, but they crept back. People in Delemor could’ve seen him with Ronan and described him to the Defenders. Alister tugged at his shirt. He was no master of disguise, but at least he could buy new clothes to blend in.

Alister sighed and closed his eyes. His hands went through the motions for swirling his two staves, which were tied to the sides of his pack along with his carved staff, and he managed to give most of his attention to this task.

As the lift was within minutes of Bastium, groups of houses lined the Mount’s slope. As the lift climbed higher, more and more buildings sped by, still on the cliff.

To Alister’s dismay, the windows didn’t face the direction of the city, and when it came to a halt, Alister could only see a small plane which led to an arch far more magnificent than the one in Delemor. The entrance to Bastium. Already the noise of the people and music in the city reached his ears.

His excitement to see the city he’d only ever dreamed of daunted his worries, if only for a moment. Alister looked over his shoulder to check Ronan was hidden, and tapped his foot in line to exit the lift.

Finally, he reached the front, and the conductor inspected his traveller’s pack, Frequent’s Card, and ticket, before letting him leave the lift with a map. Alister ran around the corner and his eyes hit the city.