Maker of Fire

Kamagishi, in the dreamspace

While the Queen's power over the Great Crystal of Tiki is the first picket of safety for the kingdom, the second picket is the Avatar of Galt, namely me. Dreamwalking and waking precognisance are the two main ways that I can see what Galt wants to show. Unlike the Queen, I have no control over what I see when precognisant visions arrive. However, dreamwalking does give me some control of where I go, if Galt permits it.

As I recognized the feel of a dreamwalking episode, I felt House walking with me, brushing up against my leg and purring. Ever since House arrived a season ago, she has been with me all three times I have dreamwalked. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by that since she was the gift of my god. She is obviously a special existence. She wasn't full-grown yet but she was close and her long gray hair had fluffed out, making her look much bigger that she really was. But she was big enough to start filling my lap, and she loved laps. She had a preference for the mostly white robes of the librarians. She especially like sneaking into the library and making the rounds of anyone sitting down.

I had fallen asleep with House curled up on my shoulder. She liked to climb on me when I got into bed. She preferred to sleep on my chest but I had moved her because I wanted to read the day's court summaries before going to sleep, and there wasn't room for both the summary scroll and House. Now she was walking the astral pathways with me, with that loud purr of hers going.

The mists parted and we found ourselves in a marketplace in a city I did not recognize. I identified date palms, bearded palms, and hairy palms planted along the boulevards. The people were dressed strangely, in scandalously short tunics and pants that exposed knees. Given the indecency, I concluded that I must be seeing a place in Mattamesscontess, Kora Kor, or one of the big islands between those two places. I had to stop myself from looking at all those bare kneecaps. It was disturbing. If someone had flung off their clothes and starting having sex in the middle of the street, I wouldn't have been surprised.

No one could see our dream selves. House darted in front of me, turned her head to see if I noticed, and then forged into the market. I followed her as she wove through the people in the wide thoroughfare. Then she darted into a tent-like booth selling fabric. Inside I saw Irhessa hat Kas'syo haup Gunndit, haggling with the clothemonger over a pile of silks and cottons, neither of which are made on this side of the continent.

The poor man's fair skin was sunburned and he was sweating despite being stripped down to just an undertunic, stockings, and low-cut boots. He had a wide-brimmed hat made of some kind of woven grass on his head. He looked very silly in that get-up. Then I saw her, my own priestess justicar Othnay haup Gampff, Governor of Mattamukmuk, in one of those short tunics and pants, with her knees showing. She was with another silverhair woman wearing the same. They were talking and laughing as they shopped. The Revered Othnay was fanning herself with a gilded paddle fan and sweating profusely.

*Galt is teasing you, young Kamagishi,* a pleasant alto said inside my head. *For some reason, he has become more interested and involved with we mortals during this age of transition. He has never been this engaged before.*

I spun around but saw no one who could be speaking to me.

*Poor Othnay has already fainted twice from the heat since coming to Shinakosettkut. But what you are seeing happened several days ago. You have slipped back in time, as have I. Shall we go where Galt wants to build a new shrine and library? I think you will like Kwabin.*

I was abruptly back on the astral pathways. In front of me was a monstrous thing, a great blob in the dim light covered with dark brown fur and sprouting many legs. Five pairs of red eyes of different sizes glowed in its carapace. House took one look at the monster, climbed up a leg, and then settled down between those eerie, glowing eyes, paws tucked in. Then she started purring.

"Are you Ud?" I asked though I was sure it was her.

*I am, and you are Kamagishi, and your little furry friend here is House, who Emily rescued from the ruin of Toyatastagka. Hello, House.*

House said, "Meow." I could feel Ud's amusement.

*But before we visit Kwabin, I would like you meet the village head whose people rescued little Emily after the great storm that injured her and Spot, so you can meet your future sister who will become the first High Priestess of Galt in Mattamesscontess. She will show you a wonderful surprise. Look, here she comes now. She doesn't have a strong gift of waking procognisance, but she has been dreamwalking all her life. She can do it at will, which not even you can do.*

"What?" I was astounded. How could a talent like that hide?

*In part, because she has been protecting a village full of believers in the eleven gods in a place where that would get you killed by the false Church of Cragi,* Ud replied, reading my thought. *As for the other reason, I will let her tell you.*

"Ud?" A willowy silverhair in a simple, loose gown and bare feet emerged from the mists of the astral pathways. She exuded an air of wisdom and hidden strength. She looked about my age, with hazel eyes, though I was a half head taller. "You brought someone with you today, Ud." She looked at me and then at House. House got up, padded to the edge of Ud's cephalothorax and mewed at the woman. She walked over and scratched her under the chin.

"Halloo, fuzzy little friend," she said in a funny, clipped, nasal accent. "What? Your name is House?" She blinked and then laughed. "What silly person gave you such a funny name? What? The prophet? You mean the Beloved Emly? Yes? I am honored then, House, to make your acquaintence. I, too, have met the Prophet. And you," she turned to me and made the two-handed, palm-upwards gesture of greeting from Mattamesscontess, "I greet you in the name of the eleven gods, and ask their blessings upon you, friend of my friend Ud. I am Veronteegan, the village head of Pocatoe. I have never met another silverhair before in the dreamspace." Her smile was welcoming "Oh my, if your jaw drops any further, you might lose it."

"My cat just talked to you?" I was gobsmacked.

"She did," Veronteegan blinked in surprise. "You didn't hear her?"

"I did not." I looked at House. "You can talk?"

House shook her head.

"She says your head is too noisy to hear," Veronteegan replied. "She says I'm the first person she's met whose head is quiet enough to hear her. My, come to think of it, that is rather extraordinary."

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"Maybe you should own House, if she can talk to you," I offered, though the thought made me sad. I had become attached to this fluffball of mischief.

Veronteegan turned her head to look at House and then said, "House says that Galt gave her to you, and with you, she will stay. She requests more fried eggs and trout in her diet."

I looked at my demanding adolescent cat, "Oh, you do, do you?"

"Meow," House said.

*Veronteegan, this is the Holy Kamagishi, High Priestess of Galt's Fated Shrine in the Foskan city of Is'syal,* Ud said.

Veronteegan gasped, and then fell to her knees and put her face to the ground, arms in front of her in a position of submission, "My apologies, Holiness. I did not know you belonged to the god Galt. Please forgive my insolence."

"Sister Veronteegan, please get up," I pleaded. "If you can dreamwalk, it is a sign of Galt's favor. It is the rarest of Galt's gifts. I thought I was the only one living who could dreamwalk." I got on my knees and raised her up. "You have been living in fear of death for following the rightful gods. You may not have known this because you lacked someone to teach you." I smiled at her apprehensive expression.

"No," she said in a quiet, tentative voice, "I knew it had to do with Galt. My grandmother was the last high priestess of Galt in Mattamesscontess when the heretics took over. She knew a charm that hid her and anything she touched from all eyes. Alas, she died before she could teach it to me, and my mother had not the talent to learn it. But with that charm, she stole the Empire's seven great crystals and hid them. It is one of the places I visit when I walk the dreamspace in my sleep."

It was my turn to gasp, "Sister Veronteegan, can you show me?" This was stupendous news. This descendant of a high priestess knew the location of the missing Mattamesscontan great crystals.

"Of course I can, Holiness," she said solemnly. "I was napping so I could watch the Beloved Emly and the Empress-to-be. Today, they and their Coyn allies will attack the hidden Mattamukan pirate base in the Cliffs of Gong. But we can visit the crystal cave before the attack starts. Come," she got up and gestured. The mists cleared to show a rocky mountainside in a broad valley lined by snow-capped summits.

"Wait!" I grabbed her arm to stop her. "You know where Emily is? And she's with who? An Empress?"

Veronteegan looked a little scared at my urgency, but all of that little Coyn's friends – including me – were worried over whatever mission the gods had sent her on this time.

"I have been watching over little Emly's adventures ever since she left my village," Veronteegan replied, frowning. "That is my talent. Once I meet someone, I can always find them again when dreamwalking. That's why no children go missing in my village, injured hunters and timber harvesters are always rescued, and the lost are always found. But I know it is a rare magic so I lie about it, just like I lie about knowing Ud. I tell people I simply have good clairvoyance, trained in Mattamukmuk, which has better schooling for mages than the magic training in the temples of the false Cragi."

"I'm sorry," I tried to smile. "I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that I've become fond of Emily and I worry about her."

"The Beloved is on a ship, one of twenty from the Coyn port of Souk. With her is the Infanta Moo'upegan nu Mattakwonk, Empress Presumptive of Mattamesscontess, who has been watching over and protecting her. Our Lady of the Seas, Vassu, gave the Empress-to-be a quest to do so. The two are on a mission to rescue a mage and his mount and return them to their home in Foskos. I'm not sure, but I think Emly's having fun."

"Oh." That was a lot of news to digest. I realized Veronteegan's dreamwalking was amazing. Her ability to track someone in her dreams was close to rivaling Aylem's godlike clairvoyance. "Can I see crystals now? And where are we?"

"This is an unnamed valley to the west of No'ank, high above the Fleegle Pass." She waved her hand and a massive block of pink-speckle rock floated up and away from the outcrop in front of us, revealing a dark hole in the mountain. "And this is the entrance to the cavern where my grandmother hid the crystals. Sorry, Ud. I don't think you can fit."

*No need to apologize, Veronteegan,* Ud said, laughing. She was suddenly the same size as House. *This is the dreamspace where I can be any size I choose.*

The startled House landed, on all four feet, of course. She then turned and batted at the cat-sized Ud.

*Yes, you are right, little one,* said the little Ud. *I should have told you first. Race you inside?* Ud hopped and then sped for the entrance with House chasing after her. I followed Veronteegan inside. There I saw poor House leaping to try to catch Ud, who was sideways on the wall above House's reach. It was astounding to see this ancient, legendary magical creature playing with my cat. But even more astounding were the seven crystals: one purple one as tall as I was for Landa; one claret-colored one for Galt; four clear, six-sided ones; and the famous, missing, sky blue crystal for Mueb. It was originally from the Cedar Shrine in the destroyed city of Piskwahskot; it was the only blue-colored great crystal in existence. For over forty years, it was thought to be lost, but here it was in front of me.

I walked up and placed my hand on it in disbelief that it had been saved, "I and everyone else thought this crystal had perished when the believers of Cragi burnt Piskwahskot."

"My grandmother hid with it in the Shrine's crypt using her invisibility magic," Veronteegan replied. "If she had not been a mage, she would have died when the roof of the Shrine collapsed in the fires. She told me, on her death bed, that Galt helped her escape from under the rubble."

*Yes, I did,* Galt said from behind me. *She was one of the greatest of all my avatars, and she foresaw that you, too, would become one. No, no, no, you two. Get up, off your knees. I'll take a scratch instead, under the chin, please.* With my stomach fluttering, I got up to obey my god. As soon as I bent down and started to scratch, he flopped over on his back. *Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh,* he said as he purred in contentment.

Veronteegan knelt next to the cat god, "I do not understand, divine one. I was not born with your eyes to see the future. How can I be one of your avatars without that?"

*I could not give you the eyes for foresight, daughter, because you would have been murdered in the cradle by the filth of Cragi. Instead, I gave you the greatest dreamwalking ability anyone has ever known, though you have had to hide it all your life. But now that the Empress-to-be has declared the restoration of right worship, you can ascend to the position that is your destiny. It was fate that you met Ud and my darling Kamagishi today in the Otherwhen, for Ud will take you to Kamagishi's Shrine in Is'syal next rotation. There you will learn what you need to know to cleanse the Learned Shrine and its library in Kwabin of the pollution left by the heretics. Priestesses of mine from Foskos in Mattamukmuk will help you, but first you must have lessons in how to be my avatar. Kamagishi and Losnana, my other living avatars, will teach you. You will also be able to consult with the Empress-to-be in Is'syal.*

"I what?" Veronteegan exclaimed. "The Exalted One herself? In Foskos? Half way around the world?

*You've been watching her for the last three rotations, daughter. Surely you have realized that she is wise beyond her years and fit to restore the Empire after the ravages of Cragi's followers. She is also a lonely soul in need of friends. And you have much you can teach her about the lives of her subjects.*

"I don't know what to say," Veronteegan looked lost.

*You don't need to. When you wake, summon your son Wallaluog to run Pocatoe, and pack a bag with two days rations. Ud will come to get you in ten days.* Galt got up, licked a paw, and brushed it over an ear. *Speaking of Ud, it appears there's a spider in here that needs chasing.*

*Oh no, you don't. I am not your cat toy, you insufferable little god,* Ud said as she ran upside down over our heads and out the entrance. Galt followed.

"If I hadn't seen that with my own eyes, I would not have believed it," poor Veronteegan looked overwhelmed.

To be continued in 3.44