* * *
Lady Mage Asha was one of Alain's closest friends, and close to Mari as well. She had been like an aunt to Kira since Kira was a baby. Foresight often required an emotional connection to another, so it was not surprising when Alain and Mari received a message from Asha saying that she had seen a vision of them going aboard a ship in the harbor of Marida. The name of the ship hadn't been fully visible, but ended with the word "Taris."
And the vision had held a sense of urgency.
* * *
"Get up!" Kira shook Jason. "They're looking for us!"
Jason stumbled to his feet, looking around, still dizzy from sleep. "Who's looking for us?"
"Everybody!"
The road to the pass should still lie north of them, and even though they would be more likely to see and be seen by other people on the road, anyone heading toward the pass but avoiding the road would attract a lot more attention. Walking overland was also harder than using the road, and neither she nor Jason could afford to keep pushing themselves more than they absolutely had to.
Her throat felt dry as dust as they walked. They still had their packs but somewhere in the night the bag with the water bottles had disappeared. Fortunately they came across a creek meandering through the grass on its way to the sea and drank their fill. Jason seemed to have lost his worries about "unprocessed" water. As they got to their feet again, Kira looked Jason over, dismayed. "You look like you spent all last night fighting and rowing and running and then slept in the open in the grass."
"So do you," Jason said. "I'm sure it looks a lot better on you than it does on me."
"We have to hope nobody notices when we reach the road. Try to look a little nicer, though. As if we haven't done anything unusual and got dressed this morning in clean clothes."
"You're kidding, right?"
"I guess. Mother told me to take care of this coat and look at it!"
He grinned despite the fatigue and dust on his face. "I think it still looks real good. On you."
"Stop it." Kira headed up the slope again, angling west as well as north. The line of riders was still a good way off, but gaining on them, and the drones were moving in a pattern over the city and slowly expanding their search outward. "Jason, we have to move faster."
He didn't answer, but kept pace as Kira forced herself to walk more quickly. She could see people and wagons on the road ahead, some moving east toward Kelsi and some toiling up the slope westward to the pass for Ihris and the high plains around that city.
They finally reached the road, Kira's legs shaking with tiredness again. Jason appeared ready to fall over. Kira looked east, seeing the riders getting uncomfortably close and the drones nearly even with the riders now. They searchers had reached the point where the rail line being built west from Kelsi had so far been completed, the new twin rails gleaming beside the old, old road.
Jason shook his head. "Kira, I don't think we can stay ahead of them."
"We can't." Where could they hide? The grass wouldn't offer concealment up close, especially not from the drones overhead.
As Kira despairingly considered the few, bad options left to her and Jason, she felt something. A presence. One familiar to her. She stared in that direction, seeing someone sitting alone a bit north of the road. "Jason, this way!"
"Huh?" But he followed as Kira walked with renewed energy and hope toward the lone figure, seeing that the person wore Mage robes. She was right! It must be her! "Mage Alera? Lady Mage Alera?"
Mage Alera, one of her parents' oldest friends, stood up and turned to face Kira as she and Jason stumbled to a halt. Older than Kira's parents, Alera had been trained by the old Mage Guild using the brutal methods of the elders, then treated with disdain by those elders because of her special skill.
Her face was almost impassive as she looked at Kira, and Alera didn't say anything as they approached. Mages weren't much for social niceties.
"This one asks a great favor," Kira said as she tried to catch her breath again. "A great favor from Lady Mage Alera."
A trace of a smile flitted across Alera's face. "This one sees that one Kira. You ask…help?"
"Yes. Really big help. For this one, and that one," Kira said, pointing to Jason.
"That one needs Swift?"
"This one needs Swift. There is no mightier Roc than Swift."
"Where?" Alera asked.
"Somewhere near Ihris. Or at least over the pass. We have to get out of here as fast as possible. I don't know why you're here—"
"This one sought…family."
"Oh!" Kira said. "I hope it went better this time."
"This one thinks it did." Mage Alera looked dispassionately at Kira, then at Jason. "Both of you over the pass? Swift can do this."
Kira caught the trace of pride in Alera's voice. "Yes. This one has missed Swift."
"Swift has been resting. This one will call Swift."
"Thank you, Mage Alera!" Kira turned an exultant smile on Jason. "We're all right! Mage Alera will take us over the pass!"
Jason stared at Kira, then at Alera as the Mage walked a short distance away. "How? Is she going to carry us?"
"No, Swift is going to carry us."
"Who is Swift?"
A huge bird, somewhat like a hawk but immensely larger, suddenly appeared standing near Mage Alera.
"That's Swift," Kira said.
Jason gaped at the Roc. "Where did it come from?"
"Mage Alera made it. Mages who can create Rocs always make the same one, and the Rocs somehow remember. Even though they go away each time the spell is exhausted, the Rocs remember their Mage and things that have happened."
"It's a giant bird," Jason said, still looking stunned.
"Not really," Kira said. "It's the illusion of a giant bird."
"So it's a machine of some kind that looks like a bird?" Jason asked.
"No, it's not a machine or device," Kira said. "It's a bird."
"But not a real bird. How does it fly if it's an illusion?"
"It doesn't," Kira said. "The illusion of a bird creates the illusion of flight."
"It's not real," Jason said, "and it doesn't really fly."
"Right."
"So it can't take it us away from here."
"Of course it can," Kira said.
Jason gave her a baffled look. "How does the illusion of a bird creating the illusion of flight allow us to go from one spot to another on the actual surface of a world?"
"Because," Kira explained patiently, "the world isn't real, either. It's just illusions interacting with other illusions. And people. We're all real, but the world isn't."
Jason looked at her, looked at the bird, then back at Kira. "I'm sorry. I'm really having trouble understanding this."
"Mother is the same way," Kira said. "No matter how Father and I try to explain it, her eyes always glaze over."
"That's surprising," Jason said, "since it's such a simple concept."
"I know! Right? Wait. Are you making fun of me?"
"No."
"Yes, you are!" Kira said. "I could tell that you lied when you said no!"
Jason scratched his head. "Oh, yeah. I guess having a friend who's a girl who can tell every time I lie can be a little complicated."
"No," Kira insisted, "that's simple, too. This is the first time you've lied to me. Don't ever lie to me again. Now, the search line of riders and those drone things are heading this way. Are we going to wait here for them or are we going to ride this bird?"
"Ride the bird," Jason said immediately. "Do we just imagine that we're on it?"
"How could that work?" Kira asked. "We climb up."
"But if it's an illusion—"
"It's a strong illusion, Jason! Didn't we just go over this last night?"
Jason seemed oddly concerned about approaching Swift, who eyed him calmly as the boy from Urth got closer. "That's a really, really big beak."
"Yeah," Kira said. "Isn't it cool?"
"Not exactly the word I
was thinking of."
Swift lowered and slightly extended one wing so that Jason and Kira could climb up onto Swift's back, Jason staring at the huge feathers under his hands. "How can this bird fly? It's impossible."
"Jason, I told you. It's not going to fly. It's going to create the illusion of flying."
"Oh, that's all right, then."
Kira helped Jason lie flat and fasten himself to the leather straps on Swift's back, pausing to stroke the feathers before she strapped herself in next to him. "Hi, Swift! I love you! Mage Alera is so proud of you and so am I!"
This time Jason stared at her. "It's a huge raptor. Why are you talking like it's a pet?"
"Swift is Mage Alera's Roc!" Why did some people have trouble figuring that out?
Alera took her place seated just behind Swift's neck.
"Is there a preflight safety briefing?" Jason asked nervously.
"A what?" Kira asked.
Swift ran a short distance, vaulting into the air, the immense wings on either side pumping to lift the Roc and its riders higher and higher. Kira felt the wind rush past, felt the movement of Swift's muscles under her, saw the land falling away beneath her, and laughed for the sheer joy of it.
She looked over at Jason to share the moment. He was lying stiffly, looking terrified.
"Isn't this great?" Kira called to Jason. She lifted up enough to look down and back. The searchers, both human and drone, were rapidly dwindling in size as the Roc flew higher and angled west toward the pass. "We made it!"
"Yeah," Jason said, his voice quivering. "Great."
Kira laughed again. You would think Jason had never flown before.
All the rest of the day Swift bore them westward, gliding among the peaks of southernmost reaches of the Northern Ramparts, the great mountain chain that lay across the land north of the Sea of Bakre. Wind currents battered them as they swooped past immense mountains, steep slopes of living rock sweeping by just beyond Swift's wingtips. They caught sight of occasional high mountain valleys and glades forming unexpected patches of green below them, then a mountain lake surrounded by peaks like a vast jewel in the most majestic setting imaginable.
Jason got over his initial fright, gazing around as the air grew cold and thinner, snow resting on the peaks that Swift flew past. Kira clutched her coat tighter about her and felt happy. It surprised her to realize that part of that came from having Jason nearby, being part of the experience. Had it only been a few weeks ago when she could barely tolerate his presence? But he wasn't the same person he had been then.
They cleared the last of the mountains as the sun settled toward the western horizon. As the final outliers of the mighty Ramparts fell away, ahead and to the north and south stretched the expanse of the high plains.
Swift angled down, coming to a landing just before the sun set. The plains here were dotted with bushes and only a few trees.
Kira helped Jason get his straps off and helped him down. "Thank you, Swift," she called, petting the feathers before sliding off as well.
Mage Alera stood near Swift's head as Jason and Kira tore apart some dead bushes for firewood. Kira got a fire going with her fire-starter, clicking flint against steel until the sparks caught in the wood. After offering Alera part of their food, Kira and Jason settled down to eat as darkness settled on the land and the stars came out in countless numbers above. Neither the moon nor the twins were up, but Kira was glad for that. The twins, remnants of the ship that had brought people to this world, would have been an unwelcome reminder of the Urth people.
Jason sighed as he finished eating his portion of the trail food. "I was never big on camping, but this is nice."
"Much nicer than last night," Kira agreed. "So how did you like riding on Swift?"
"Nobody back home would believe it." He looked outside the ring of the fire. "Where is Mage Alera?"
"She's with Swift. They can communicate without words. Since Mage Alera has so much trouble socializing with people, because of what the Mage Guild elders did when they were training her, her relationship with Swift means a lot to her."
"Yeah," Jason said. "Relationships are important." He frowned, looking at the fire instead of at Kira.
"You had a good time today, right?" Kira asked. "Wasn't it amazing?"
"Yeah," Jason repeated. "But anything with you is amazing."
A slowly growing suspicion crystallized inside Kira. "Jason, are you in love with me?"
He didn't answer.
"Jason, please tell me."
"Yes," he said reluctantly, "I think I am."
"Oh, that's just great," Kira said, exasperated. Her sense of contentment vanished. "Here I've been starting to believe some of the nice things that you've been saying about me, but now I can't believe any of it."
"Why not?" Jason demanded, finally looking back at her.
"Because love makes people delusional, Jason! You aren't seeing me anymore. Your delusions are causing you to see some illusion of me that is far, far better than I could ever actually be."
"I don't think I'm delusional."
"Of course you don't think you're delusional," Kira explained. "That's because you are delusional."
"How do you know?" Jason said. "Have you ever been in love?"
"Me? No. Just a crush. But Mother told me about it, and Father confirmed it. My father is the smartest, most rational man you will ever meet. He truly is wise. But when it comes to my mother, he's hopeless. He thinks my mother is better looking than Aunt Asha. I asked him. He actually said that. And no woman could possibly be better looking than my Aunt Asha."
Jason frowned at her. "Your Aunt Asha is really good looking?"
"Yes. You probably saw her the day your ship landed. She was the Mage with long blonde hair."
"That one? Yeah, she was pretty hot," Jason admitted. "But she's not better looking than you."
"Oh, blazes, you are in love with me!" Kira threw up her hands in frustration. "Stop it!"
"Kira, what if you have things backwards?" Jason asked. "You think I fell in love with you because I'm delusional."
"Because that's obviously what happened."
"But what if I didn't become delusional until after I fell in love? What if the real you is what made me delusional?"
Kira eyed Jason dubiously. "You're saying that you became delusional because you got to know me."
"Yes! Exactly! I got to spend enough time with you to get to know the real you!"
"Jason, I know that you mean that well, but basically you're saying that spending time with me drove you insane. I'm sure my mother wouldn't be surprised to hear that someone forced to spend a while with me went crazy as a result, but it's really not a compliment."
"I think it is," Jason said.
"It's not. You really need to work on the whole giving compliments thing. Trust me."
"I do. I trust everything you—"
"Stop it!"
She was apparently stuck with Jason being in love. At least he was being good about it, acting fairly normally. Fairly normally for Jason, anyway. Not like the way Gari had moped around like a sick duck a few years ago when he had a crush on what's-her-name.
If she had to choose between the complaining Jason with a bad attitude that she had started out with or an in-love- with her Jason who was acting pretty nice, that shouldn't be too hard a choice to make.
So why was she feeling conflicting emotions racing through her?
"Jason," Kira began, "I'm going to be honest with you. I owe you that. I mean, you saved my life in the storm and—"
"I didn't do that to put an obligation on you," Jason said. "Go ahead and tell me to get over it."
"I can't tell you that," Kira said. "I don't how I feel about what you've just told me. I'm…confused. I suppose you couldn't help falling in love with me." She winced and covered her face with her hands. "Stars above, that sounds awful. What I meant was, I don't think you tried to fall in love with me. It just happened."
"Yeah," Jason said, s
taring at the grass near his feet. "I actually tried not to fall in love with you, because I…I thought you'd be upset."
"I'm not angry," Kira said. "Just confused. About my own feelings. But I do know this. We have a very important job to do. Millions of lives depend on us. We can't forget that, and we can't let personal things get in the way of our job. That has to stay our first priority, and that has to be what we think about."
"Sure. You're right. Are you sorry you kissed me on the ship?"
"No," Kira said. "I'm not sorry at all."
"Thank you. Seriously. I never thought someone would say that to me." Jason got up. "I need to, uh, do some business," he said, waving into the darkness.
While he was gone, Mage Alera came and sat on the opposite side of the fire from Kira, but farther away from the fire than Kira. For a Mage, it was a pretty bold bit of socializing. Kira inclined her head respectfully toward her. "Mage Alera, this one has questions."
Alera inclined her head toward Kira in return. "This one listens."
"Do you know anything about love?"
The female Mage took a while to reply. "I know what I feel toward Swift. And I know what Swift feels toward me."
Kira sighed. "I wish all love was that simple and uncomplicated."
"When the elders ruled the Mage Guild," Alera said, "they taught that love was an illusion."
"I tried the illusion argument with Jason already. I don't think it worked."
Jason came back into the firelight, remaining standing and looking at the grass again. "Kira?"
"Are we going to talk about the same thing we just talked about? Because I don't think—"
"No." Jason grimaced. "This is about the job. Kira, one time when you were telling me about Mages, you said they could make things disappear, like making part of a wall disappear so they could walk through. That's what happened on the boat last night, right, when the boom disappeared for a while?"
"Not exactly," Kira said. "What the Mage does is overlay an illusion of an opening on the illusion of a wall. The part of the wall that goes away for the duration of the spell doesn't disappear. It never was. Until the spell is over, and then it is again. But only as part of a larger illusion."
Jason looked at her, frowning. "I'm not even going to try to understand that. Can Mage Alera do it?"
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