complete. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of lights inside. Most were small, like fireflies; greens, reds, blues, yellows. Some were steady, others came and went. And among these tiny fireflies were larger lights, squares that glowed brightly. Upon these lights, images danced. Most were full of symbols, lines, and other things I could not understand. One of the square lights, the one closest to the newly-appeared door, I saw an odd mirror-like image of myself, standing at the door. It was not really a mirror, but seemed as though it showed me the view from where my hand had touched the wall and lit it up. I was reminded of the spy-crows which our mages used. They watched the enemy, and their sight was shown to us through a special mage-woven tapestry hanging in the throne room.
I reached in and touched the lit square. It had the same odd texture as the spigot on the water vat. It was much like glass, with whatever was on the square somehow existing below the surface. When I touched the square, odd symbols and writing appeared on top of the not-reflection. A square formed around the image of my face, and words in the odd script of this place appeared around it, as though it were labeling me. I wondered what it said.
"Hello?" I spoke quietly, unsure of what awaited me, but hoping to see the girl with whom I spoke.
There was no response, and the small hut seemed empty.
I stepped into the hut itself. It was very dry inside. The air was warm, but not the harsh warmth of the sun. It was a more comfortable warmth, like the warmth found in the royal palace, where great furnaces sent heat out into the great halls through ducts built into the floors. I heard a constant hissing sound all around me, and wondered if that was the heat being blown about by something out of sight. I stepped in some more.
The floor was metal, though in places there were pads laid down. The material had traction, as though black sand had been glued to the floor. It hurt my blistered feet, so I stepped back onto the soothing coolness of the metal portions of the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief as the pain receded once more.
The entire inside of the hut seemed lined with the fireflies and the lit squares. All of them seemed to dance with light, drawings and symbols that moved by so fast, I doubted I would be able to read them even if I understood what they meant. They were simply too fast. I wondered what sort of people could follow so much.
The lights seemed arranged in rows along the walls, stopping about half way to the floor, where a small counter jutted out. There were odd looking chairs about the place. Each chair rested on three small beams which met under the chair. The beams' ends had small wheels. From the center of the beams, a single metal bar rose up to support the chair's seat and back. They were much like the chairs the mages used in their libraries, so they could move aged bodies among the tables and shelves without getting up. These were far more refined. I slid one of the chairs aside, and it soundlessly glides across the hut, striking the waist-level counter, a table really. It knocked over something in the dark, which clattered on the floor.
I looked about, seeking something to eat. Mysteries were fine, and wondrous lights were fine, and wheeled chairs were fine, but without food I would soon be well beyond caring about any of that.
As hungry as I was, I did not want to offend whatever mage built this small glowing place, nor the girl-spirit which spoke to me. I knelt down, and looked for the item. My entire body groaned at the effort, but I managed to get down low enough to look under the table. Beneath the smooth, lit surfaces above, this part of the hut was a tangle of ropes of many colors. They ran back and forth below the tabletop, and all eventually disappeared into the walls. I touched one of the ropes, and pulled, hoping that perhaps they would summon someone, like the bells in the palace. Instead, the rope came out of the wall. Small metal prongs, five of them, extended from the end of the rope. They were warm.
The rope, now pulled from the wall, left five holes where the rope's prongs had been. I reached in to touch one of the holes, and immediately regretted it. I recalled once touching a small orb used by the mages of the king's court. I had received a shock, as when you come in from a storm and your hair is standing on end. You touch your sword hilt, and a spark ignites. This was much worse. The feeling flowed through my finger and up may arm. I felt it pass through my shoulder, down through my chest, and all the way down to my legs.
It burned, but oddly it was not so much pain as shock. I felt odd, and the world seemed to blur. I leaned back as everything around me seemed to lose focus. As soon as my finger left the hole, the feeling stopped. Still, I sat on the floor for a minute or two, stunned. The top of my finger was red, but not burned. Still, it hurt a fair bit, as did the soles of my feet, though I was unsure why.
After a moment, taken to collect myself and ensure that I was indeed still alive, I hauled myself to my feet. I would certainly not be touching anything else here. Still, I needed food. I looked for some sign of food, but there was none. Several lockers, not all that different from the casements found in any armory or apothecary, were mounted on the wall in certain places. Others were overhead. I touched none of them, for fear of being hurt. This place was far beyond my reckoning, and I had no wish to die by touching something not meant to be touched.
Just as I was about to ask for food once more, a dull roar emerged from the distance. It quickly grew louder, and even in the hut, where the hissing dulled outside sounds, I could tell it was overhead. I hurried to the door, the blinding light of the sun obscuring my vision. I shielded my eyes, and watched as some fierce creature, like the dragons that adorned the books of children, swooped in overhead. Heated air belched from its wings, oddly shaped things with massive bulges in the center. The air blasted me, and I stepped back into the hut for protection.
The creature hovered about, turning as a whole, this way and that. The rumble of the bulges, pumping out that hot air, seemed to fill my ears. The skin of the beast was almost like a suit of armor, with the same blackness as some of the Kronan armor; dull, as if it absorbed the light. The neck was stocky, and the head had two eyes which seemed to reflect the light. After a moment, I was shocked to see something from behind the eye, the silhouette of a man! It was not an eye, but a window. I gasped.
This was no dragon, no creature of the air at all. It was some manner of ship, like the great siege machines which protected soldiers as they approached an enemy wall. The belching hot air seemed to keep it aloft, and as the bulges in the wings turned, the ship moved about. Then, like the feet of a bird, great metal legs reached out from its underbelly, and slowly, smoothly, it set itself down in the sand. I stepped further in to the hut, my heart pounding in my chest.
What was all of this magic?
Just before the ship touched down upon the sandy beach, the sand began to blow in all directions, creating a small sand storm which blocked the creature from view. After a moment I heard the rumbling stop, and the sand storm died down. The dragon ship stood silently, but not for long. Out of its back, what I took as the beast's, no, the ship's tail, a panel opened up. It lowered itself to the sand, and out of the back, figures in bizarre armor poured. Siege machine, indeed!
There were two of them, with helms the color of tanned leather, and coverings over their entire faces, eyes and all. Their armor was odd, patchwork, not at all the smooth works of art I was used to seeing, both terrible and bland. Their boots were obviously cloth of some sort, with the same tanned color as everything else. Their pants were made of some loose material, baggy and fully of pockets. From their belt hung satchels of various sizes. Above the belt, that odd armor bulked out the figures' forms. I could not see where it fastened together, though a metal strip ran up the middle from belly to neck. Their shoulders were bulky, giving them a fierce, powerful look.
They carried with them long, black sticks. No, not sticks. Odd things, with handles obviously fashioned for grips. The pointed them to their fore, each figure pointing
