“Come on Tybor! We’re not kids! Aidan’s almost technically an adult in the Otherworld. And mom even sent me over here by myself this time. We don’t need you babysitting us!”
“Dat’s enough uv dat backtalkin’ Rowen! You’s will do as I ask an’ I’ll hear no more lip ‘bout it. Yer amma herself asked me ta keep an’ eye on you’s an’ yer friends. So if’n you’s wanna act all mad den dat’s yer choice, but when I say jump you’s better be askin’ how high! Don’t dink I won’t tan yer hide boy if’n dat’s what I gotta do! Now do you’s un’nerstan’ me?”
The three of them got very silent and Tat inched closer to Aidan.
“Whatever man,” Rowen crossed his arms across his chest and stared out a crack in the shuttered window pretending to watch as the scenery blurred by.
Tybor considered pushing the issue because he didn’t care for Rowen’s reply, but knew the entire ordeal so far had been a tense one and decided that he should just let it drop for now, but also knew this wouldn’t be the last of it.
Chapter Eleven
Graymark Border
T at fought sleepiness watching the greenish blue landscape blur together against the dripping pink sunset as it slipped past the unshuttered window Tybor had opened once they were safely away from harm. The view was mainly flat rural and overgrown fields surrounded by outcroppings of forest.
Bored, Tok decided that resting on top of the car was much better than being cooped up all the time, and it gave her more room to stretch.
Once the need to sleep won them over they slept upright on the seats leaning against each other, trying to regain the energy they spent fleeing Yon’s Pass. The sound of the slogbotton’s feet pounding the ground created a good rhythm, allowing them to sleep well through the night.
Aidan welcomed the sound. It reminded him of traffic noises from back home, and he was glad to have a break from the all too quiet sleepless nights.
Excited to see the scenery changing the next morning as they approached the border of Graymark, Tat and Aidan pointed things out to one another. It looked nothing like Yon’s Pass. The buildings towered several stories and were mostly brick rather than wood and stone.
Vehicles passed with a few passengers and crates in tow. Aidan thought they sort of looked like odd version of model-T’s. He smiled, relieved to see that this place had some form of automobiles at least, a hope for a little more advanced civilization this time.
The slogbotton instinctively slowed his pace, pulling into the skitterdu station as if it were the most natural thing to do, having done it at least a thousand times before. The elven receiving crew looked perplexed and unsure of what to do, most had never seen a slogbotton mounted with only a single-car.
Tybor instructed the kids to ‘stay put’ while he went to the manager’s office to clear things up and arrange for the slogbotton to be returned to Gorvin without a skitterdu exchange. He also prompted them to put their hoods up and stressed to keep the windows shuttered and door closed until he returned.
He reminded them that while Yon’s Pass citizens had grown accustomed to human children going about by now, Graymark had not; and this might not be the time for that revelation.
“You’re coming back today and staying with us this time, right?” Rowen questioned, with good reason.
“‘Course I is.” Tybor snapped a reply, dismissing Rowen’s concern, hopping gracefully out the single-car door onto the boarding walk without the need of using the rope ladder.
Aidan rushed to close the door behind Tybor, his heart beating nearly out of his chest. He wasn’t sure if it were excitement that the journey was finally progressing or nervousness due to not knowing what was happening next or just a combination of both. Mentally he prepared himself for the next step, deciding he was ready for it – whatever ‘it’ was.
Rowen shifted anxiously in his seat, not sure if he should trust that Tybor was coming back for them. For all he knew, Tybor was only here for some secret mission for the Crown. Maybe Tybor was just using them as an excuse to tag along, telling them to stay put to keep them out of his way.
He hated thinking these thoughts; given everything Tybor had done for him and his amma in the past. She trusted the elf faithfully and told Rowen there was no better person to trust in the Notherworld. And the truth of it was, he’d always looked up to Tybor like a stand in father figure as long as he’d known him. So why did he doubt him now?
Tat couldn’t help but let her curiosity get the better of her as she cracked the shutters to get a peek at the way-point. She was very familiar with skitterdu stations by now, recognizing the ticket office, the unloading docks, the dreaded pits area, the slogbotton stalls and the waiting queue’s. Not at all that different from Yon’s Pass.
A few minutes later and to Rowen’s approval, Tybor was knocking on the single-car door letting them know it was safe. Aidan was the first out followed by Tatyana. With eyes widened and smiles so big they must have hurt, the two could barely contain their anticipation and excitement of having a new place to explore.
Loading their packs onto a small dolly, Tybor was glad to see that no one seemed to notice or care that he had three human children in tow. The hustle and bustle of the station was a welcomed relief, giving them good cover to speak and move freely.
“Keep close ta me,” Tybor insisted. “We dun know exactly what we’re dealin’ wid here.”
“What do you mean?” Rowen questioned. He knew they came from a bad situation, but surely there was no risk of that following them all the way out here.
“Maybe nothin’,” Tybor replied. “But you’n still needs ta be careful. Devotees coul’ be anywhere, an’ dis is too close ta Myrr land. Reports say it’s been quiet, but still; better safe den sorry as dey say.”
“Can we go see the Ceil now?” Tat asked.
“I dun think it’ll be dat easy Tatyana. Ya see, ya gotta petition her fer an audience first.”
“And how do we do that?” Aidan spoke up.
“Youn’s won’t. I’s handlin’ her. You’n ‘ll be waitin’ some’ers safe.”
“Now hold up,” Rowen began to protest.
“Rowen,” Aidan chimed in not wanting to hear another argument, “let him handle it. I feel like he knows what he’s doing.”
“Oh, you think so? Did you forget he’s the one that left us to work in the pits for the past few weeks?”
“No, I haven’t. But hear me out. He is the one that kept us from getting blown up back there, and he has gotten us this far. I know you’re mad at him for leaving us to fend for ourselves for a while, but he had a good reason as he explained. And he is right, we were safe up to a point. So, if he can protect us now, we should let him.”
Rowen crossed his arms across his chest and considered continuing his rant; but then thought maybe Aidan was right. It was time to let it go. Besides, it wasn’t helping anyone to stay mad.
“Fine,” he huffed, not wanting Aidan to know he agreed with him.
“A’ight, if ya dun wid yer tantrum we’s can move on,” Tybor announced, proving his patience was beyond worn out. “How much coin you’n gots? I got some, but a room ‘round here ain’t cheap, an’ no way’s youn’s stayin’ in a tent in da alley’s here. It’s jus’ too risky.”
“Are you saying we can sleep in a bed for a change? I’m definitely up for that.” Aidan smiled.
“I’m sayin’ we’s see, but prolly.”
“Well it’s not much,” Rowen fished the coins out of his pocket. While they had accumulated a lot, it dwindled a lot too – after all they did need to eat, bathe, and buy a few supplies.
“It’ll do,” Tybor acknowledged, counting in what they attributed.
It took a bit of searching before they found the cheapest room with the best rates. A few potentially cheaper options were available but gauging the expressions on the kid’s faces Tybor decided they wouldn’t be able to handle it.
The room they’d settled on had two large beds at least. The beds weren’
t much bigger than the one back at the Pixie Dust Inn, but they would serve their needs. Tybor warned them again to ‘stay put’, explaining that he would be gone for the rest of the day and possibly some of the night.
He assured them that he would be back as soon as he was able, reiterating to Rowen that it might even be the next day to make sure he understood. Tybor refused to leave until he knew for a fact that they understood the plan and promised to keep out of sight and wait for him there.
For a while, they were content to just kick back and relax on the beds, especially after they took turns using the complimentary bath tokens that came with the room, but before long boredom set in.
Rowen studied the town from the room’s third story window. It reminded him of home. He wondered if there might be a world gate nearby. Perhaps he should go back and check on his amma, surely something had changed by now.
Who knew what amount of time passed or didn’t pass since he’d left? An hour here could be a day or even a month there, or vice versa. There were no rules for it that he knew of, except that time moved forward but never backwards. At what speed was the question, and no one knew the answer. That was just one of the mysteries of passing from world to world. No one really knew why it was like that, but that it just was.
Maybe the Fates made it that way so it wouldn’t be too common of a thing to travel through them. Maybe that way the Fae wouldn’t abuse using the gates. He shrugged; deciding he’d wasted enough time thinking about it.
Still, he figured he’d stayed here too long already. Maybe his amma had already passed... No. He wouldn’t think about that. He knew she was still alive; he didn’t know if her condition was any better or worse, but he’d know it if she’d... passed on... right? He knew he’d sense it if she left the physical planes. He didn’t know how, but he knew he would.
Tat occupied herself with airing out their clothes and supplies from earlier. She knew everyone was counting on her to do things like this, and she wouldn’t let them down, especially Aidan.
Aidan… she stared at him as he lay sprawled on the bed staring at the ceiling. Why did she feel like this every time she thought about him? There was this emotion… the feeling that she wanted to be near him all the time. A stirring. A warm, wrenching feeling in her chest. A feeling she couldn’t push down, no matter how hard she tried.
She wanted to be angry at him for just being here. Angry for every second she was away from home, but then guilt kicked in, knowing it was her own fault that any of them were here. She sighed.
“Can this get any more boring!” Aidan shouted louder than he intended which startled Tat and snapped Rowen out of his deep contemplation. He’d stretched out across the first bed he came to. At first he was delighted with just the sight of it; but as the hours played out he became restless.
“Man, don’t you know that’s like asking ‘can it get any worse?’“ Rowen chuckled.
“It is boring,” Tat added, “but at least we’re not in the pits.”
“What is it with this world? Why is it so damn boring? I mean it’s supposed to have been around even longer than my world right? So why is it stuck so far in the dark ages? Why didn’t they develop electricity and technology and stuff like we did?”
Rowen laughed and Tat audibly exhaled, both had grown used to Aidan’s tirades about ‘how this world sucked’.
“Dude, I thought I explained it already. They watched what the humans did to their new world, and they didn’t want to repeat it so found alternative ways of doing things here. I mean they still have some things. They’ve got governments and trade like we do, and some schools and stuff. There are even some factories, just not stuff that’s going to hurt the home they live in.”
“Yeah, I get all that stuff, but why is it so fucking boring?”
“It’s not!” Tat felt the need to defend her world yet again. “We do fun stuff all the time. Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad!”
Rowen chuckled more. “True. But I’m with Aidan. I think we should go do something,” he suggested, thinking this could be a way he could find a map or anything that might mark the portals so he could get back home.
“Sounds good to me. What you got in mind?” Aidan asked with renewed enthusiasm.
“But... Tybor said we should wait for him here. It’s not safe.” Tat draped the tent’s rain fly over a chair.
“Tybor, shhmyber. Who made him the boss?” Rowen huffed.
“I really think we should wait,” she began to object, then realized they already made up their minds as the boys proceeded to the door.
“Well if you wanna stay here, then stay here,” Aidan slipped his cloak on.
“Alone? No, I don’t want to wait here alone.”
“Suit yourself, but I will go stir-crazy if I can’t get out and stretch my legs. I mean, we can wear our hoods up and stay close, right Rowen? No harm in just walking around a little.”
“Well at least you’ve got Tok here,” Rowen chuckled.
“Is that supposed to be funny?” Tat cut her eyes at him, then looked over at Tok who had decided the middle of the bed was the best place to get in a good solid slumber.
Aidan opened the door. “We should at least check the place out. We don’t have to go too far away I guess. Just go with us already.”
“All right then. Maybe it will be ok if we don’t go too far. I guess we can come back to the room later. I guess Tok is just going to stay here and sleep anyway,” she rambled. “We still have some time before night comes, I suppose there’s no harm in getting a breath of fresh air,” she continued, trying to convince herself everything would work out.
The buildings outside towered above them like a jungle of brick and metal, grouped two and three together with a few alleys in-between. The shade cast over them made things quite cool, even though it was a blistering hot day. Aidan wished they didn’t have to wear the stupid cloaks, but he understood the necessity. No reason to draw unnecessary attention.
He noticed signs on some of the buildings were not in English, or Faerian as Tat corrected him; but some other alien looking writing. When he asked about it, Rowen said it was in Myrrian.
“So what does it say?”
“Do I look like I’d speak Myrr?” Rowen joked, “it’s obviously an herb shop. Don’t you see the pictures of plants on it?”
“Oh.” Aidan felt a little stupid noticing there were small pictographs on each sign making it easy for everyone to know what each building was for. And there were all kinds of shops on that street; one for pipe smoking, another that appeared to be some sort of mechanic shop, a shop for riding saddles, jewelry and furniture stores of some sort, and one for women’s dresses; which really caught Tat’s eyes.
Aidan wondered how she would look dressed up in one of those ladies’ garments that were displayed on the wooden mannequins in the window. Would she look a lot different all fancied up, dressed like the ones they’d seen Miss Perry wear?
He hadn’t seen Tat wear a dress, he’d only seen her in the tunics and leggings with boots; not much different than what they were wearing now. What would she look like if she painted her face and got all dolled up the way Miss Perry did?
“Let’s check that out,” Rowen interrupted Aidan’s thoughts heading to the open market a little further down the street.
Following Rowen until they reached the market, each began drifting off in their own direction. Rowen spotted a young, tall and attractive pale blue skinned pixie; her translucent dragonfly-like wings seemed to flutter as she stacked scrolls of tourist ephemera stating ‘Get Your Dragon Sightings Map Here’ according to the advert header. Maybe she would know where I could find a map to the portals.
Tat became enamored by a set of magically enchanted sewing, crocheting and knitting needles on display. The needles magically exhibited how they produced remarkable skill without the need of anyone else to do the work.
“One hundred coin each,” she read the tagged price. Oh, if only we had enough to sp
are, it would help so much, but she knew they didn’t.
Aidan was astonished by everything he saw and slowly moved from booth to booth until he stumbled upon a large book on a pedestal. Hovered above it was a small sign written in Myrrian and Faerian, ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Magical Engineering’.
Flipping through the pages he was amazed by the different varieties of incredible vehicles this world presented. Appearing to be primarily hybrid engines, usually part steam driven and part some form of a catalyst such as an enchanted crystal or something, he found each one fascinating, as if he were being cast into some kind of spell. Until now, he thought this world was simple, but this was more complex than he’d ever imagined being possible. Maybe this place wasn’t so primitive after all.
“Pard’n me Miss, I’s wonderin’ if you’n can tell me where’s I can fin’ somethin’ unique, but affordable? Somethin’ dat woul’ make a good gift fer someone hard ta please?” Aidan heard the all too familiar voice of Tybor and almost dropped the book he was looking at.
Looking up in the direction of Tybor’s voice he saw the elf just a few booths down from him. Fuck. He knew he’d better find Rowen before Tybor did, so he placed the book back on the pedestal and crept his way back to where he last saw him, a moment too late.
“Rowen!” Tybor snapped, “What part of ‘stay put’ did you’n not git?”
Rowen jumped, “well, uhmm... we–”
“We? Boy you’n mean ta tell me you’s not da only’n here?”
“It’s my fault Tybor,” Aidan stepped forward and confessed. “I was bored and wanted to stretch my legs.”
“And... I thought a breath of fresh air couldn’t hurt,” Tat also stepped forward from the rows of booths, feeling it was as much her fault as theirs.
The Fateless: Errata Page 13