The Seers of Altaire

As we reached Altaire, I was proud that, for once, I hadn’t been thrown to the ground. Fio wasn’t so lucky, giving a miserable groan as he slid from Tyler’s shoulder and landed on the dirt ground with a dull thud.

“This is Altaire?” I asked, looked around. We stood on a dirt road, surrounded by trees on the left and right. The road stretched on before and behind us, mountains standing tall in the distant North.

“Yes,” Alec replied, tapping at the Seeker. “We ended up a little father from the town than I meant, but it’s not too far.”

Noah leaned over to look at the device. “Any sign of Lily?”

“No sign of anything,” he said reluctantly. “But we won’t know for certain until we search the town.”

“Let’s go, than.” Tyler scooped Fio up into his arms and looked expectantly to our leader. “Which way?”

Alec smiled and began walking along the road. The rest of us followed, and for a while the only sounds were the birds singing in the trees.

I took a look around as we walked, taking in the wide, clear sky. The trees were tall and wide and full of emerald leaves.

“Does time flow differently on each world?” I asked without really thinking.

“Yes,” Mi’ta said, looking over his shoulder at me. “Why do you ask?”

“On Earth it was autumn,” I said, watching two brightly colored birds flit by overhead. “But it looks like summer here. And on Corenth, my watch was going crazy.”

“How do we age if each world has its own time stream?” Tyler asked curiously.

“We don’t,” Noah replied.

“It’s because we’ve got the Seeker,” Alec elaborated. “Without it, our bodies and minds would adjust every time we reached a new world, to suit that particular words’ time stream. Needless to say, we’d probably go insane. So Traveller created the Seeker to keep us in the same state, at least mentally and age-wise. If you stayed on a world without the Seeker, eventually you would adjust completely to suit the world.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” I mused, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “How did Traveller start going between worlds?”

“It’s hard to say,” Alec said. “There are a few theories, but he refuses to confirm or dispel any of them.”

“Sounds creepy,” Tyler commented.

Noah smirked. “He is pretty creepy. They say that he captured a demon and experimented on it until he got the information he wanted.”

“Is that true?” Tyler asked curiously, cradling Fio like an infant.

“Doubtfully,” Mi’ta said, frowning at Noah.

She grinned in return. “It’s never been proven.”

“Stop spreading rumors, Noah,” Alec said with a weary sigh. “Traveller is a genius. He observed demons but never experimented on them. He didn’t need to.” Admiration showed in his gold eyes.

“Why do you call him ‘Traveller’?” I asked. “Doesn’t he have a name?”

“I’m sure he does,” Alec said. “But we don’t know what it is.”

“We’re not sure if anyone knows,” Noah added.

Tyler and I exchanged a glance. What did Traveller have to hide, I wondered, that kept him from telling his own Hunters his real name?

We didn’t get much time to contemplate it, our thoughts distracted by the sound of rhythmic thuds approaching from behind. We turned to find a man riding a large wooden cart, pulled by two horses that were barely tall enough to reach my shoulders.

The man was as small as his horses, short and thin with wisps of gray hair covering his head. He had a hat in one bony hand and waved it, though I couldn’t tell if he was greeting us or trying to make us move.

We got out of the way, regardless, and he stopped the cart beside us, observing us with a grin as he shoved his hat back onto his head. “Where are you five from?” he asked, eyeing our odd attire.

“Very far away,” Mi’ta said with a smile. “We’re on our way to Altaire. Can you tell us if we’re going the right way?”

The man pursed his lips, obviously unsatisfied by the answer. He considered us, then shrugged and smiled. “I can do better than that. Hop on the back, I’ll give you a ride.”

“Are you sure your horses can handle it?” Noah asked, eyeing the creatures doubtfully.

“Horses?” the man scoffed. “You must be nobility if you don’t recognize norbae when you see them. But no matter. They’re stronger than they look, m’lady, don’t you worry.”

“Thank you for your kindness, mister…” Alec said, hoping for a name.

“Call me Baek,” the man said with another grin. “And not a problem. I’m on my way to Altaire, so I might as well help you along. It’s half a days ride and a full days walk, and you look like you’re in a hurry.”

“We are,” Mi’ta confirmed as we climbed onto the back of the cart. There were large piles covered with a blanket that took up most of the wagon, but we managed to fit.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tyler asked in a soft voice as Baek urged the norbae into motion. “He could be tricking us.”

Noah gave him an odd look. “There are five of us and one of him,” she pointed out. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“So what’re you going to Altaire for?” Baek called over the rumble of the norbae’s hooves.

“We’re looking for someone,” Mi’ta told him. “Perhaps you’ve seen her.” He fell into the description of Lily that we’d been giving everyone. I couldn’t bring myself to hope much, and as I looked at Tyler beside me, I could see that he felt the same.

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen her,” Baek said after a moments’ contemplation. Surprise surprise. “But Altaire is the perfect place to try and find her.”

“Why’s that?” Noah asked, adjusting her feet to avoid kicking the covered piles as the cart shuddered.

“Goodness, my lady!” Baek exclaimed. “Do you know nothing of the world? Have you been trapped in a tower for all of your years? Or perhaps a cruel prince has kept you locked in his castle to marry you, but your friends came to rescue you at the last minute?”

“What?” Noah asked, dumbfounded, while Alec grinned in amusement.

“That was very specific,” I told Baek, stifling a smile.

“Well, thank you,” the old man replied. “I do read a lot, so I suppose I’ve gotten creative.” He nodded toward his piles, and when I peeked under the cloth covering them, I found that they were books.

“We’ve come a long way,” Mi’ta said slowly. “We’ve never been to Altaire.”

“It’s unlike anywhere you’ve been, I’m sure,” Baek said. “It’s full of fortune tellers and seers. You’ll find your friend in no time.”

“Fortune tellers?” Mi’ta sounded skeptical. “They can see into the future?”

“They make a living doing it,” he confirmed. “Most of them are brilliant. They can see anything you ask of them.”

“You don’t believe in fortune tellers, Mi’ta?” Tyler asked.

“It’s surprising that you of all people would find it far-fetched,” I observed.

Mi’ta smiled faintly. “Well,” he said slowly. “There are many different magics and many different methods of using it. My world taught all of them, but fortune telling was always one no one could quite catch on to.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not real,” Alec pointed out, resting his chin in his hands, elbows on his knees.

“True,” Mi’ta agreed. “I just find it hard to believe.”

I glanced to Tyler and found him watching me, holding Fio on his lap. I gave him a weak smile and looked to the floor of the cart. I could remember a time when I was twelve years old, and Aunt Chloe had taken Tyler and I to have our fortunes told. I had been nervous, expecting something from a movie; big armchairs, a table with a crystal ball, an old woman covered in colorful robes and jewelry and speaking in a strange accent while she told me my future. The real thing was something very different. When it was my turn, I’d been taken into a small room with two metal folding chairs and a plastic table covered by a black tablecloth embroidered with silver moons and stars. My fortune was told by a woman named Sharon, and though she did have tarot cards, there was no crystal ball. She’d been wrong about almost everything she’d said, and my disappointment had soon turned to bitterness. Afterwards I’d insisted that fortune telling was crap, and part of me still believed it seven years later. I wasn’t very sure about the prospect of finding Lily through fortune telling, but as we neared the city of Altaire, I decided it was worth a try.

The trees around us began to thin as we continued along the dirt road. It wasn’t long before the path began to slope downward, and I looked ahead to see my first glimpse of Altaire.

The city was nestled at the bottom of a steep hill, a valley that formed a sort of grassy bowl. The city itself looked pleasant, with large houses, wide cobblestone streets, and a river running through the center of the town. Across from our position stood what almost looked like a castle, though even from such a distance I could see that it was crumbling and practically in ruin.

“What-” Noah began, then paused, perhaps expecting Baek would think her even more sheltered if she asked another question. She glanced to Alec, who grinned and asked the question for her.

“What’s that old castle?” he asked as we descended the hill toward Altaire.

“Just that,” Baek replied. “An old castle. What else would it be?”

“Does anyone live there?” I tried.

“Oh no. It once housed a young lord and his lady, but they’re long dead, and the castle was abandoned. Thieves and bandits hide out there now.”

We soon reached the city, the cart rumbling along the streets. It seemed to be a peaceful place; children played in the streets while their parents worked or spoke to their neighbors. We received a few stares for our appearances, but I was used to it by now and managed to ignore it.

Baek brought us to the center of town, where I spied the first disturbing thing so far. Standing in the center of the town square, glinting in the afternoon sun, was a small guillotine, clean and ready for use.

We climbed from the cart, and I tried not to look at the guillotine, wondering if Altaire wasn’t so peaceful as we’d thought.

“Thank you for bringing us here,” Alec said to Baek.

“It was a pleasure,” Baek replied cheerfully. “I hope to see you again, travelers. My lady.” He tipped his hat before urging his norbae onward and rolling out of sight.

“So what do we do now?” Tyler wondered, Fio’s tail curled around his neck as the creature perched on his shoulder.

“The most important thing,” Noah said before Alec could speak. “Is to find a blacksmith.”

“A blacksmith?” I repeated. “I thought we were going to find a fortune teller.”

“You two need weapons,” Noah said as she started walking, observing the signs hanging over shops.

“I have a weapon,” Tyler protested, patting the holster hidden under his shirt.

“It’s better to have more than one method of combat,” the warrior replied, spotting a sign indicating a blacksmith. She entered the shop, leaving the four of us no choice but to follow.

The shop was smaller than I’d expected, and very hot. The walls were lined with swords, knives, axes, spears, shields and armor made of thick leather. There were also weapons I didn’t recognize, as well as holsters. The back wall was open to the air, and there was a large oven, several barrels of water, and various tools for crafting weapons.

A man and a young woman stood near the stove. The man had thick gloves on, holding a half-formed sword over the flames. The woman watched with undivided attention, fascination in her eyes.

We watched for a moment or two without being noticed. Finally, Mi’ta spoke up. “Excuse-”

Noah silenced him with a look. “Don’t interrupt,” she said sharply.

The two glanced over. The man hesitated before looking to the girl. “Seidri, I can’t leave this. Can you help them?”

The girl, Seidri, blinked at him in surprise before her eyes widened. “By myself?” she asked, hopeful. “Really?”

“Don’t mess it up,” the man replied before turning back to his stove.

Seidri gave a delighted squeak and scurried to us, skirt swishing in a self-made breeze. Up close I could see that she was Tyler’s age, probably younger. “Can I help you?” she asked breathlessly.

“These two need swords,” Noah said, indicating Tyler and I. “They’re beginners.”

Seidri nodded and took a measuring tape from the pocket of her smock. “Let’s start with you,” she said to me. “Stand up straight and hold out your arms, please.”

I complied, and she measured my arms, shoulders and chest, taking notes on a scrap of parchment. She measured Tyler next, then contemplated her notes before taking two swords from the wall.

“This one will suit you, I think,” she said, offering the sword to me. The blade was long and slender, the end curving very slightly into a point that was so sharp it was almost invisible.

“Take it, Jai,” Noah said, eyes bright with interest. “See how it feels.”

“How’s it meant to feel?” I asked, even as I reached for the sword.

She opened her mouth to answer, then paused, considering. After a moments’ thought she shrugged and said, “Right.”

I took the sword from Seidri, my fingers adjusting on the grip that seemed to have been made for my hand. It fit perfectly, and wasn’t too heavy, though it still felt strange to hold.

Noah considered, watching the way I handled the blade. She nodded after a moment, pleased. “Good,” she said, before gesturing to Tyler. “And him?”

“This took me a little longer,” Seidri confessed, blushing slightly as she offered the second sword to my brother. He hesitated briefly before accepting it, studying the sword carefully. It was the same length as mine, but wider, with a guard that wrapped around the back of his hand.

“Perfect,” Noah confirmed. “We’ll take them both, and all the gear.”

Seidri went to fetch the sheathes, gloves and belts we would need, and Noah showed us how to put it all on properly while Alec paid.

“Thank you for buying these for us,” I said as we left the blacksmith. The sword was a strange weight on my hip, but I did my best to get used to it quickly.

Alec smiled. “No problem,” he replied. “Traveller sends us all the money we need, so it’s not an issue.”

“What is an issue is finding a place to practice,” Noah said, looking very interested in the prospect.

“And finding Lily,” Mi’ta reminded. “We may as well try to see if any alleged fortune tellers can help us.”

A hopeful look crossed Tylers’ face, but he didn’t say anything, silently fingering the grip of his new sword. Fio seemed to sense his feelings and cooed quietly on his shoulder.

We proceeded to search Altaire the same way we searched every town; Mi’ta and I took one half of the city, Alec, Noah and Tyler took the other, and we asked everyone we could find if they’d seen Lily. Unsurprisingly, no one had.

“Don’t worry,” Mi’ta tried to assure me as we walked the streets in search of a fortune teller. “Maybe one of the seers here will be able to tell us something.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in that stuff,” I said, looking up at him.

He hesitated, then smiled and shrugged. “Anything’s possible.”

I thought on that, and decided that after everything that had happened, I couldn’t disagree. “True,” I allowed. I chose to change the subject, not wanting to dwell on my disappointment. “So, your world’s got a lot of magic?”

Mi’ta blinked several times behind his glasses. “Well… yes. It’s centered around magic, for the most part.”

“Can the people fly?” I asked, half-teasing.

“Oh yes,” he said seriously. “Only it requires a magic word.”

“Really? What’s the word?”

He glanced at me and smiled. “Alakazam.”

I raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help grinning. “Jerk,” I accused, swatting at his arm.

“Oh my. Look at them, flirting so openly,” a voice said suddenly.

“So cute,” a second voice agreed, extremely similar to the first.

Mi’ta and I stopped and turned to find two girls standing nearby, watching us with bright eyes. They were young, possibly only nine or ten, but had the knowing smiles of two old women watching children clumsily express affection for each other.

The two were completely identical, down to the freckles sprinkled across their noses. They body had curly blonde hair, and they each had one blue eye and one brown. They were dressed in colorful dresses, white at the top, the skirt gradually becoming several colors at once that all seemed to shift whenever they moved.

Despite their youth, I couldn’t help feeling unnerved by them; Mi’ta stepped closer to me, and I could tell that he felt the same. “Who are you?” I asked carefully.

Their smiles grow. “I am Tevie,” one twin said. “My sister is Ruli. We’re fortune tellers.”

“Are you?” Mi’ta asked politely, his hand curling around my wrist. “That’s very nice. We should be going now, though-”

“You should let us read your fortune,” Ruli told us, smiling her impish smile. “We’re never wrong.”

“Really?” I asked, interested in spite of myself. Perhaps it was gullible of me, but I wanted to believe the twins.

“We won’t charge you,” Tevie added.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mi’ta said, eyeing the two girls warily.

“That’s obvious,” I told him with a smile. “Don’t worry. The worst that could happen is that they’re liars.”

Mi’ta seemed to disagree, but only sighed. “Very well,” he said, releasing my arm.

“This way, please,” Ruli said, before pointing to Mi’ta. “You wait here.”

Mi’ta blinked, then sighed and shrugged. “All right.”

I wasn’t really pleased to be separated from Mi’ta, since last time we’d parted ways I’d ended up a prostitute. But I followed the girls anyway, leaving the magician behind as we went down a small side-street. They brought me to a small tent that sagged slightly to one side and led me inside where it was dark, the sunlight streaming through tiny holes in the tent. Pillows were scattered across the floor, providing cramped but comfortable seating.

The twins sat together on a cushion, and I awkwardly sat across from them. They fished a small velvet pouch from under a pillow and handed it to me.

“Shake it,” Tevie instructed.

“Then dump it onto the floor,” Ruli finished.

I hesitated, looking at the pouch in my palm. I couldn’t tell the color in the gloom, but it could feel that it was filled with small, hard lumps. I chewed my lip, then carefully shook the contents and spilled them out onto the floor.

Small, perfectly smooth rocks tumbled out, knocking lightly against each other. Each had a small symbol carved into it, except for one.

Tevie and Ruli took a moment to study the rocks, thoughtful looks crossing their faces. Finally, Tevie reached out and selected one of the stones.

“This one,” she said, brushing her thumb across the symbol, “means that you are ill.”

“I am?” I asked, grimacing. Did that mean Damaen’s poison was taking effect? I would have to remember to ask Mi’ta.

“It will cause you to suffer quite a bit,” Tevie said, returning the stone to the pouch. “But you will recover.”

Before I could inquire further, Ruli chose a pair of stones that were touching. “This one says you are on an important journey,” she said, before indicating the one touching it. “But this one keeps us from knowing the outcome.”

“How?” I asked, frowning. “What does it mean?”

“You’re unsure,” Ruli answered simply. “The success or failure of your journey depends on your own decisions, and you are indecisive.”

“These two.” Tevie indicated two more rocks. “One means that you will have an interesting encounter with someone you already know. The other says that you will meet someone new.”

Well, that wasn’t surprising. “What about that one?” I asked, nudging the unmarked one.

The twins looked at it, then at each other, then at me. “It means,” Ruli said slowly, “that your journey will be full of hardships, but also full of joys. Too many of each to know what your feelings about the outcome will be.”

I sighed lightly. “Is that all?”

“Well, there’s this one,” Tevie said, picking up the last stone. “It says that you will fall in love.”

“More than once,” Ruli said with a sly smile. “But we thought you already knew that.”

I frowned and left the tent, sighing as I straightened. I returned to Mi’ta and found him leaning against the wall of a building, chewing the thumbnail of his left hand. He glanced up when I appeared and blinked. “How did it go?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t really learn anything of value,” I admitted. “Except that I’m sick, apparently.”

“You are?” Mi’ta grimaced. “I guess the poison affected you, after all. As soon as we find the others we’ll get to an inn and I’ll take care of it.”

Before I could thank him, a shout echoed through the air, followed by an infuriated cry.

“Oh.” Mi’ta sighed. “That sounded like Noah.”

A figure suddenly came hurtling around a corner and sprinted along the street toward us. I could see that it was a boy of around sixteen, clutching a brown bag under his arm as he ran.

“Looks like a thief,” Mi’ta observed.

I started to answer, before I realized the boy was running straight toward me. He saw me and kept running, and as he drew closer I was convinced that he planned to run into me. A few more seconds brought the boy close enough for me to count the freckles on his nose and see the devilish look in his eyes, before I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact. Something brushed by me a second or two before another body slammed into mine, sending us both crashing to the ground.

“Jai!” Mi’ta yelped, alarmed. Another voice was calling my name, and I heard a cursing in my ear.

I opened my eyes to find dark blue hair. Noah blinked down at me as she struggled to get up.

“Sorry, Jai,” she said. “That little b*****d dodged out of the way and made me run into you.”

“Oh.” I was too distracted by the throbbing in my spine to really know what to say.

There were footsteps as Tyler and Alec approached at a jog. “Jai!” Tyler called. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” I confirmed, and looked up at Noah, who still hadn’t gotten off.

Her eyes were on her hand, which was gripping Lyalin; she’d apparently drawn it while chasing the thief. During our fall, the blade had stabbed into the ground, cutting my shirt and resting only a hairs’ breadth from my body.