The Face of Destiny: The Third Book of the Shards of Heaven

The Face of Destiny

The Third book of The Shards of Heaven.

Copyright © Amos T. Fairchild 2011

Smashwords Edition

Cover design copyright © Amos T. Fairchild 2011

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

.o0o.

A map of the Domain (Maeruna) is available at:

http://bcs4me.com/atf/maps.html

Chapter 1 – Boston

All things are a circle.

I

Jorden Miles wished he had a watch.

Watches were a handy item in reality, especially when every second counted. As he sat there in reality the seconds were ticking away, while back in the Domain, the new Maeruna, time was passing much more rapidly. He had tried to work out how fast it was ticking away with help from people like the portal specialist, Djarra. Every four minutes that passed in reality were something like an entire day back home.

That would be another day Jorden's wife, Taf, would be missing him. They had only been married a few weeks and she had always been somewhat possessive anyway. If he didn't get back soon then she was likely to possess the body of some unsuspecting pedestrian in reality so she could see what was taking her new husband so long.

Jorden stood, waiting, wishing Hura... Helen would have timed his arrival better. She wasn't the person she used to be. Literally. Hura and the Domain were gone now. The Domain of the great Hura Ghiana was now Maeruna, a world of men and aestri and burgo and a variety of other orders. Some of those happened to be able to change form into lions and dragons, of course, but otherwise it was as normal as things got in the shard worlds.

And Hura was now just Helen. She wasn't quite the Helen who had fallen into Maeruna a thousand cycles before, but then she wasn't Hura any more either. Her body had been rebuilt from scratch somehow inside the mysterious flicker boundary, and her mind had been filled and wiped a few times it seemed. It had not been left in great shape, Helen often quite vague at times.

What made things worse was that Helen had a number of ideas for projects she had previously shelved due to her workload as a witch-god of her empire. Now she had time, and Jorden found himself in the firing line of her latest brainwave.

Jorden wasn't exactly sure what the big picture was, or exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it. He knew Helen was up to something and this was just a part of it. What she was doing seemed nuts, and that was being generous. What made it worse was Jorden seemed to have to do the dirty work for her. He shook his head and knew there had to be a better way to do it.

He was in a park, although it was not really a park. It was more accurately just some parkland bordering a cemetery. And it was reality as Jorden new it, with a real sun sinking into the real west. Meanwhile more days were quickly passing back home.

Home... He was calling Maeruna home. That seemed weird considering his real home was here in reality... Well not here. His original home was actually on the other side of planet Earth. Jorden was currently in Boston and way out of his depth. He had his cover story, sure, but he still felt a long way from home, both the home of reality and his home in Maeruna.

Now he had to wait for a young woman who had been a friend to the original Helen, the Helen Jorden had met a thousand cycles back in the history of Maeruna. It had also been three years ago depending on one's frame of reference. Jorden was starting to lose track of all of that now. He wasn't even sure how old he was any more. He was guessing he was somewhere between seventeen and eighteen, but he remained sixteen back in reality. It made things like birthdays hard to keep up with.

In any case, he was looking for a young woman named Sue and tell her the good news. Helen was alive and...

He considered that. He was going to tell her Helen was alive and well, but he wasn't sure that was altogether true. Helen became Hura over a thousand cycles ago, but then Hura was disintegrated by the flicker boundary and then reborn. Still, it was close enough. There was an entity walking around back in Maeruna that looked and acted a lot like Helen. She even had most of Helen's memories.

Meanwhile in reality, Helen was considered dead three years. There was no body, of course. The grave Sue visited was empty. The broken body of Helen was lost in the Atlantic somewhere, so that might make it a little easier to convince Sue that Helen was still alive. What might be harder was accepting that Helen was now walking as well rather than in the wheelchair that Sue would last have seen her in.

Jorden shrugged aside the thoughts. There was a woman approaching and it looked a lot like the crystal images Helen had shown him. The time had come and Jorden knew things weren't going to be easy.

He approached and said hi, then smiled. Sue Driscol, right? he asked.

The woman paused, looking to the young man. He was well dressed and not the usual park bum looking for loose change. She managed a smile back but was already looking for an escape route once the guy started his sales pitch.

Jorden decided to hit hard and get her attention. I'm a cousin to Helen Garret.

Sue found she could only stare in return.

II

It was enough to get her to go to the nearby coffee place and have her sit for a while. Jorden knew Sue was uneasy, but Helen was right about some things. First, Jorden was young and not very threatening in appearance, secondly he knew enough about Helen to convince Sue he was indeed related, and third, Sue loved her coffee.

There were some lies, of course. My family moved to Australia years ago, Jorden said. So we lost contact a little even before the accident. That was the accident which had left Helen in a wheelchair and her parents dead. But it was good she had friends like you.

Sue was relaxing by then, sipping on her coffee. Jorden was enjoying the same. It had been a while. Coffee in Maeruna just wasn't quite the same, even Helen's private supply. Not good enough, Sue said. It had been three years. The agony had eased, but some remained. Good friends could have stopped... You know.

Jorden was nodding. It had to be hard. Helen had tried suicide to end all her own pain. As far as Sue was concerned she was successful. The truth was impossible for the moment, and Jorden new even a hint would be hard enough to get across.

Knowing that, Jorden voiced exactly the disbelief he knew she would have. I know this is going to be difficult for you to believe, he said. But Helen... There was no easy way to do this. Why did the old witch always give him the difficult jobs? Why not just drag her through like she did himself and worry over it later? He sighed. Helen is still alive.

Okay, it was said. She wouldn't believe it, but it was done.

Sue gazed back thoughtfully, then lowered her gaze. I've always felt that... Then she shook her head. But it's not possible. There were search parties for over a week. She couldn't have survived the fall anyway. She stared hard toward the strange young man from Australia of all places. And it's been three years. If she was still alive we would know.

Of course, Jorden knew, except... She lost her memory. That was actually the truth. Jorden had been there after the fall when Helen had first entered Maeruna. She had no clue who she was, and Jorden was little help. At the time he had thought Helen was actually Hura, the thousand year old witch-god of the Domain.

It took her quite some time to regain her memory, He went on. And after that, it got... complicated. Complicated for Jorden at least. There was no easy way to explain the thousand cycles that had passed since Sue had last seen Helen. But she would like to see you again...

That caught Sue's attention. She still didn't believe any of it, Jorden could see that, but her curiosity was up. She can't come here, of course, Jorden added, but she is near. I can take you too her. As far as Sue knew, Helen was still largely incapacitated. After the fall in the Azores she was likely to be even more broken and bed ridden. It would make sense that Sue would have to go to her.

And he was getting tired of the charade. It was easier to just get to the other side and worry about explanations there. Helen had plenty of excuses, of course. She couldn't just set a trap in the middle of Boston as she had for Jorden in rural Tasmania. There was no telling who might pop through at any time.

So Jorden was stuck with the job. All he had to do was tell enough to get Sue to the nearby portal and guide her through. Once in Maeruna they could hit her with all the non-reality they wanted. She looked tough. She would survive. He thought of his own first days in Hura's Domain, and he had no help in adjusting or hints as to what the heck was going on.

Sue was still staring, still wondering if she could take this Jorden seriously. He could be any nut off the street... But he knew so much. He knew too much of Helen's youth, and of herself. I can't believe... After all this time I don't see how she could be alive. And right here? Did he mean he could literally take her to Helen? Where?

Five or ten minutes in a taxi, Jorden told her straight, which was more or less true. It was about that far to the portal anyway. Unfortunately that amounted to another couple of days in Maeruna. Massachusetts General Hospital. He noted the sceptic stare. On my word. I'll take you right to her.

III

Sue knew she had to be nuts believing any of this. She didn't know this guy and it was just as likely he had been stalking her and gaining information from her garbage. But she felt safe in the cab, and they were going to a large public hospital. If they were heading into a dark alley somewhere then it would have been very different. Jorden new that as well and convinced Hura to use a more public and obvious place. Hura's own first choice had been the alley behind the coffee shop.

The cab dropped them near the doors of the asthma centre, which seemed odd to Sue. But there were people everywhere. It was nice and safe and secure. Sue knew she had to take the chance or she would forever wonder about it, and she stepped out and followed Jorden toward the front doors on the building. It was only then it became somewhat odd.

Sue began to really worry when this unknown man stopped at a door that looked very much like a storage room. She glanced back along the somewhat quiet corridor as Jorden opened the door. There were still people, though somewhat distant, and it remained a public place. It just seemed very odd that Hura would be in such a place. And so near. None of it made any sense. Look, she began, and then gazed into the inky blackness beyond the doorway. It was total darkness. There was no way she was going in there. You have to be kidding?

Yet the young man was directing her exactly there. Right through here, he said, then noticed the unease. Helen is very light sensitive and they keep the rooms very dark. But it was more than just dark, Sue was sure of that. She could see nothing at all. Your choice, he went on. You can come see Helen now or leave. She will only be available today and she would like to see you... Jorden thought hard. She is being moved to a specialist centre in Europe tomorrow.

Jorden was getting impatient and was tempted to simply push Sue through the portal Helen and Djarra had created. The shard portal was Helen's creation, of course, while the darkness came from an extension added by Djarra on the other end. Even Jorden wasn't one hundred percent confident in the idea of a combined portal, but he wasn't about to let it show.

It was about this time Jorden gave up and moved to simply push the woman through, something he never had a chance to finish. As he moved, Sue walked through the door. For Sue it was perhaps her only chance to find out if this was all for real. Yet as soon as she stepped into the darkness she knew it was all a farce. She suddenly doubted she would never see Helen.

At that moment there was a biting cold, even through the warm clothing she had worn in the cool afternoon air of Boston. Then came a rush of warmth that felt more like the heating of the hospital should feel, only then it was almost too warm.

At least it was brighter, unfortunately the light revealed a room Sue was definitely not expecting. It looked very much not like a hospital or medical centre of any type. She glanced back past Jorden and noticed a fading swirl of darkness, another thing that was more than a little odd. She blinked and it was gone, but then so was the doorway they had walked through.

Sue was about to speak when Jorden beat her to it. You won't need your coat, He said, and she was already finding that obvious. She removed it and placed it on the makeshift table. You might need this hat and sunglasses though.

Again the stare. Sue wasn't sure what to say. She was in a small room that looked like it was made of crude cut timber and bamboo. Light came in through thousands of tiny cracks in just about every surface including the ceiling, and there was a door ahead that was also lined in light. She looked at the sunglasses he offered, then the wide brimmed hat, eventually taking them in hand and wondering what exactly she was supposed to do with them.

As he opened the next door the light flooded in like a nuclear blast. Sue blinked and put on the sunglasses. He had claimed Helen needed darkness, and now it looked like they were headed into a turbo-charged sun room...

Only it wasn't.

As Sue walked out the door and down the few steps she knew all was not well in the world or her mind. She hoped it was the former. She could do little but stand at the edge of the sand and stare as the man with her walked slightly ahead.

It was a beach. The fine white sand glared under the high sun, the beach broad and vanishing in the distance to her right and left, sweeping in a wide arc as she stood toward the centre of the bay. Ahead the waters of the bay were a clear emerald green, the sky a pale blue above. Small islands littered the horizon and forested hills rose along the perimeter of the bay.

It wasn't possible. A moment ago she had been in a hospital in the middle of Boston, now she stood on what looked all too much like a tropical beach. And it was hot. The sun felt like it really was burning her skin. The salty breeze was gusting in her face. She could hear the sound of the gentle surf rolling lazily on the sand.

Ahead was a sun shade erected on the beach and the strange guy, Jorden, was walking toward it. Sue followed warily and felt herself sink in the soft sand. There was a young woman out there in a floral bikini who rose and came running toward Jorden. Sue watched as she leapt bodily into his arms and called his name several times.

Sue moved closer. There seemed to be little to fear except the condition of her sanity. The young girl looked toward her and Sue flinched. She had the eyes of a cat. Then she smiled and Sue noticed the teeth weren't any more comforting.

Her voice, however, was soft and very human. Is this her? Taf asked, watching Jorden nod before returning her attention to Sue. I'm Taf. This is my husband. She held close to Jorden.

That was normal for Taf these days. Ever since the wedding she would make a point of mentioning he was her husband at any and every opportunity. It was understandable, especially since they had been the only human and aestri married couple until recently. Now such marriages were common according to the Saljid newspapers.

Of course Saljid was a long way away and Jorden had other things to worry over. Mostly he was worried about the fact that he had taken Sue out of reality and had her standing on that beach a long way from Saljid... And Helen was nowhere to be seen.

Sue was still looking up and down the beach. It didn't make any sense. It was like a dream, except that the sand felt quite hot for a dream. But it could not be real. She had been in a darkened hospital room in Boston, and although that wasn't far off the bay or even the ocean, there was no beach like this anywhere nearby. This was tropical; pristine. It was hardly the north Atlantic and certainly nowhere near civilization as she knew it.

There was little sign of life or structure as far as she could see. There was just the shelter and the small house on the shore and the two strange people, one somewhat more strange than the other with the odd cat contacts. Then there were the makeshift towers built of toothpicks in the distance on the rocky point at the end of the bay.

The strange girl was looking in that direction as the man asked about Helen. She is up on top of that thing again, Taf was saying as she wrapped a matching floral skirt around her waist. pointing to the lattice towers. She has been there all day. I told her you would return today.

Sue heard the mention of Helen's name and gazed toward the distant tower. It looked like a collection of triangular spider-web rising to the apex of an open and hollow pyramid. She couldn't imaging why Helen would be in such a place, or even that she was still alive. Sue didn't even know where here was.

Jorden noticed Sue was still in a state of shock and knew he would have to start explaining things. I know this is all a bit strange, he started.

Sue flashed her gaze toward him. You think! She looked back to the tower and the beach and the pale sky and the forested islands. I have to be dreaming, right? She knew it felt too real, but dreams could be like that... until you woke up.

It's hard to explain. Too hard to explain it all. Keep it simple Jorden, he thought. It's sort of like a parallel dimension... Another world... He noticed Sue's piercing gaze. He had been where she was now. There was no easy way to tell any of this. "I know. I thought the same thing when I came here. I didn't go for all the other world crap either for a while. But after a few weeks I figured that it had to be real."

Sue was looking at the girl. And her?

Taf frowned and started to mouth her own name.

Jorden smiled. She's a local. He decided to not go into details about the aestri just yet. I met her here and we married recently, but... Well, it's a long story.

I'll bet, Sue hit back, taking it all a little better than Jorden was expecting. Of course she was still in dream mode, and that helped. She could relax knowing that none of this could be real. The unreality of it all would hit soon enough.

At least the surrounds were close enough to some sort of reality and Sue didn't have to deal with creatures or dragons or even the flying second-form human looking burgo, Jorden considered. Tonight might be another matter. Polythorn occasionally still came out at night now and then. There weren't as many these days after the huge losses in the birth of the new Maeruna, but they still existed. Only the most wary had survived, of course - those that hid or buried themselves during the hot lethal light of day.

That was something to worry over later. For the moment everything was more or less normal, and that was good...

Until a familiar dark void started to materialize out of nowhere on the beach nearby. Sue stepped back, but Jorden held his ground. He was used to the dark voids these days and it had been several weeks since any had nearly killed him.

When Djarra stepped through he was disappointed. He was hoping for Helen. Ah, you're here, eh, Djarra said. About time. The old witch needs something to distract her. She is not coping well with the loss of her Hura, I think, eh?

Sue looked to Jorden. He was the closest thing to a normal human, certainly closer than the cat girl or the strange old woman in the coloured rags. She also did not like the looks of the dark void swirling mid-air nearby that the old woman had appeared through.

Long story, Jorden said again. Helen called herself Hura for a... while. A thousand year while, he thought to himself. It's okay. This is a friend, he added, looking to Djarra. The lagasi portal technician was actually a lot more reliable than Helen most of the time. Especially lately. Helen was indeed not herself since losing control of the Domain to the new Council.

She's still busy with the anomaly gate, Djarra directed to distant towers. She wants us there. Knows you have arrived, yes. Then she motioned toward the void. Come on.

Sue stood her ground, recalled the last dark void. Through there? Like hell. Last time I did that I ended up here.

Djarra snorted as usual. Can't be worse then, eh. You wish to see your friend, then this is the way. She stops for nobody it seems. Always too busy.

That's what he told me last time. Sue held her ground and looked to Jorden. He shrugged in reply.

Djarra also seemed little concerned. Then stay. She moved back toward the void.

Jorden followed with Taf still firmly attached. He had been away for over two weeks and she was not about to let go easily.

Sue watched as the others started vanishing into the void. They were calling her bluff, she knew that. She looked back to the house and wondered if there was any way to get home. She recalled the wall where the dark void had been and gritted her teeth. The nightmare had her captive, well and truly.

She leapt forward into the void, straining to see.

Chapter 2 – Bermuda

Life is the ocean.

I

The void vanished quickly and Sue screamed briefly, grabbing quickly for a nearby railing.

The sand was gone, but then so was the ground. She could see it far below the open lattice-work. It was black wet rock, the waves crashing lazily over the seaward edge. She could see a beach on a wide bay stretching into the distance, a bright band separating the emerald green of the sea from the further greens of the forested hills and mountains beyond.

There was wood flooring beneath her feet, but not much. Most of the structure looked like bamboo, poorly lashed together with vine and rope. Sue noticed that Jorden was near and also holding firm to the railing and not enjoying the height. Only the cat girl seemed to be happily walking freely across the decking toward others nearby.

Sue tried to compose herself. The void was vanishing into the wind and they were only a couple of stories up from the rocks after all. And it was just a dream. She wasn't particularly frightened of heights even when awake, so it wasn't much of a nightmare. There were no blades or knives like in one of her real nightmares...

Indeed the height itself didn't really worry her as it much as it appeared to worry the man nearby. Lurching suddenly forward on a beach and suddenly finding nothing but air and a flimsy railing ahead was something else. Now that everything was still it all looked a lot better, and Sue looked to the others nearby.

One woman looked familiar, too familiar. The others were just people, or at least cat people judging by the eyes. The hair flailing in the ocean breeze was whiter than Sue had ever seen it, and the woman was wearing a dress rather than her more usual jeans, but she was still sure it was Helen sitting there - until she rose to her feet and looked in Sue's direction.

Sue hissed a breath. It still looked way too much like the girl she had known. Helen, was about all she could say.

And the woman smiled back and walked away from the other cat people and their collection of coloured crystals. Sue. You wouldn't believe how glad I am to see you.

And they hugged. It felt very real to Sue. Way too real.

When Helen backed, Sue looked close. She had to be sure it was really her. How? she thought aloud. You look like you did before... The scars? You can walk?

Helen shrugged. What did Jorden tell you?

Sue looked briefly toward her guide into dreamland as he stood uneasily and tried to ignore the height. Some parallel universe crap, but I know I'm dreaming all this.

Or dead perhaps, Helen smiled. Hit by a bus? I told you that would happen. Ask Jorden. This is Hell.

Jorden was glad of anything to take his mind off being so many metres off the ground. Sure looks like hell sometimes, he agreed. He thought about the death part more than he would have liked. There was always a lot of talk of death in the old Domain that he knew, and the creed of the aestri was filled with death and reincarnation. But I don't think you are dead yet. You can still go home.

Unlike people like Kelvin Conner, Jorden thought. That was another entity he had met in the domain who claimed to have died and been brought into the Hell of the Domain. At least the current Maeruna was no longer the hell that the Domain had been. Things were looking up at the moment, the kurto doing far better since the recent battle with the creatures – a disaster of Helen's making of course. It was still easy enough to die, something Jorden to ignore for now. Jorden also tried not to think about Taf's prediction she would die saving Jorden's own life. He even tried to shut out the visions of the hell of fire he had seen in the flicker boundary once upon a time, or the passing over his own grave.

It was the height. It was getting to him.

Sue herself wasn't sure how to take any of this. I can't wait to wake up. I think that's about the only way home from here.

Helen cocked her head. You'd leave a tropical paradise for the cold grind of Boston? At least stay a few days. That place will be the death of you. She started moving back toward the other cat-eyed aestri and the coloured crystals surrounding the ring of decking atop the bamboo pyramid. I should know. It nearly killed me.

Sue bit her lip. It was easy to forget about the accident in a place like this, especially with Helen walking and talking as if nothing had happened. And yet it had happened. Three years ago her parents had been killed and Helen was left in a wheelchair. All because of the accident. Hardly Boston. Some stupid drunk ran you off the road.

An inevitable product of the environment you live in, Hura said, her back to Sue as they came to the open ring. It will get you soon enough. You have a few months left. She turned and smiled, pulling a face. "I have the vision. But it's okay. You can stay here with me and be safe."

I have a life, Sue started without thinking. She was arguing with a ghost in a dream, and now the ghost was predicting her death. She felt a chill deep within. Maybe it was a nightmare after all. I've met someone, she said anyway. We're thinking of getting married, having kids...

Helen sighed. She noted most of the others were keeping their distance somewhat and giving her time with Sue. She knew she should stop work on the portal. She should have been there to meet her on the beach. But there was so little time. She almost laughed at that. Time was so variable, and yet so critical. I know, she said. I have seen you. I hoped you would go on with your life and stop mourning a long dead friend. She held to her shoulders. "I've seen you come to the grave every day, always hoping you would find someone. And then you did. That is why I have never brought you here. Until now.

Now I fear that future is gone, Helen finished sombre. I thought I had lost vision, unfortunately my friends brought me from a place where I saw far too much. And that she said loud enough for them to hear.

Jorden frowned toward her. He had heard enough of what she had said, even with the breeze and the distractions. He thought of the flicker boundary and what visions she may have seen. He knew much of the vast memories she had gained were stripped away, and yet perhaps not all...

Helen broke his train of thought. But we are way ahead of ourselves. Time is on our side after all. A holiday, perhaps, eh Suzy? I know you have been working too hard. Words were bright again, taking Sue by surprise. And I'm starving. How about you Taf?

Taf was always hungry and was licking her lips. Jorden, however, was uneasy at their current altitude and wasn't about to think of food at the moment. In the square, Taf was saying, Jorden cringing with the though. Sue can meet Midnight and Kaeina!

Jorden groaned. He hoped the burgo was at least in second-form.

II

Djarra's portal opened straight into Riecher's Square.

Jorden was glad to get down from the creaking scaffolding, but he wasn't sure Sue was up to all the sudden changes. She had only been in Maeruna for about twenty minutes and had already been transported several times – this time most of the way across the entire landmass.

The square itself was not overly packed, and most of the inhabitants looked human at a glance. Jorden kept looking anyway, making sure there were no first-form burgo nearby. He wasn't sure Sue was up to seeing a fur covered dragon just yet. He could see mostly common folk and more aestri than usually would be the case. Since the last great battle with the creatures of darkness the aestri really had done well in Maeruna and were becoming integrated into mainstream society, and were not just the near slaves they were in the past. Many were moving from more remote outlying areas into cities like Saljid, and they were going to be harder and harder to ignore even on a political level.

There was now a pride in the way they walked the street. Sure, they were always a proud race, a proud order, but now they seemed more willing to show it in public. There were also second-form burgo Jorden could see who also walked proud in the square, but at least the winged females were too far for Sue to notice at the moment, or at least notice their deviations from humanity.

The first-form aestri, however, were harder to ignore. A large silky brown lioness walked near, part of the night guard no doubt, and Sue caught sight of her not long after stepping from the portal. Jorden felt sorry for how quickly Sue was being dumped into the domain and had to wonder why Helen was pushing the limits like she was.

Sue came to a halt as the large hundred kilogram cat-like aestri drew near, Jorden trying to convince her that everything was okay while she was otherwise convinced the dream was turning more and more towards nightmare.

Finesilver, the near-lion then said, Sue jumping as she did. Jorden Miles. And she bowed.

Jorden didn't recognize the aestri. He may well have known her in second-form, but had no hope as she now was. He hoped Taf would know more. Raindrop, she squealed and hugged the cat, Jorden thanking her silently.

Jorden knew Raindrop well, at least in her second-form. Raindrop had been good to him during his first days in Saljid, and had even made his first real clothes. That amounted to an aestri skirt, of course, but Jorden remained thankful. I wouldn't have recognized you, he admitted. I didn't know you were a brown. She did have the same greenish-brown eyes, however.

He then returned his attention to their new arrival. And this is Sue, He told her. She is new here just like I was. Hasn't even been here an hour yet. Not that such increments of time actually meant anything to an aestri, or indeed any of the local kurto or ilkurto inhabitants.

Raindrop bowed again. A friend of Jorden Miles is a friend to all the kurto.

Sue was slow to respond, and she glanced often to the others. A talking cat. Why not.

Aestri, Taf corrected. I'm a silver grey in first-form.

Another long story, Jorden added. Aestri can change form... He could tell it was getting too much for Sue and he looked to Helen for aid.

But Helen was standing back. Once she was witch-god of the Domain, but these days she was largely ignored. Few people on the street knew her by sight. She had spent too many centuries in the castle to be well known by anything other than name and reputation. Even Jorden suffered that to some extent. Without mention of his name he was just one of the crowd, and even with his name it often required some convincing.

When Helen did speak it was not exactly what Jorden or the others wanted to hear. So why don't you guys go on ahead. I'll meet you all at Joe's... Order something nice for me... And show Sue around. She noticed Jorden's frown. I won't be long. Just need to see to a few things.

And she left them, sweeping away into the crowd. Jorden stood, stunned. Djarra snorted. Taf frowned in the direction Helen had left in. Only Raindrop spoke, taking little notice of the departure. I will tell Midnight you are here.

Taf nodded absently, Raindrop again bowing her furry head and padding away.

III

Getting a table at Joe's was easy. It was afternoon and hardly the busiest time of day. They sat together at the biggest table they could find, with places left for Helen and Midnight in case she met them there.

Sue was still not saying much. It had been a difficult day and Jorden was unsure what he could say that could be of any help. Anything he did say was just as likely to make things even more difficult for the newcomer to Maeruna, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Taf was less concerned over such things. I don't understand why Hura does not wish to be with her friend. You have been away weeks bringing her here, and now she barely has spoken to her.

Jorden flinched. It was true, but he wasn't about to say it openly.

Stranger than ever, Djarra added. She has not been herself since... Well since she was rebuilt by whatever dwells within the flicker boundary. Perhaps even before then.

Jorden thought back. She was always a bit odd. Even when I met her a thousand cycles back. He looked to Sue. How better to bring her back to reality. You would know her as well as any of us.

Sue just stared. When the young man had first approached her and mentioned Helen was still alive she knew it could not be true. Even after seeing her in the flesh she still doubted it was possible. Helen is... Helen. She didn't get on with most people... Sue then glanced to her watch, then snatched hold of her wrist when it wasn't there.

Jorden noticed the action immediately, remembering the number of times he had lost his watch coming to the Domain thanks to Hura's selective portal technology. That would be back at the hospital. I hope it wasn't expensive.

I'm meeting someone tonight, she said vaguely. I should get home. She regretted saying such a thing as soon as she voiced the words. The thought of going home suggested she actually was elsewhere rather than passed out